The Prophecy
by rbsschess
Summary: She was born special - with a destiny that would change the world. She is the Keeper, he is the Overseer - together can they save the Cullens and restore balance. Bella/OC maybe Bella/Edward at the end
1. The Prophecy

**The Prophecy**

_In a time of great upheaval_

_When the veil between worlds is crumbling_

_One will be born to rebuild the walls and restore the balance._

_She will be the Keeper _

_She will come from the most ancient of bloodlines_

_A mix – vampire, lycan, fae, druid and berserker_

_With her mate (the Overseer) order and peace will prevail._

_Her fate is set – her mate is not_

_A choice to be made – _

_Some she will reject – some will reject her_

_One will reject and regret -- one will be chosen_

_She will be born of humans and much more than she appears_

_The process begins on her 18__th__ birthday but_

_She has always been special if one looks closely enough_

_The one who sees wins her love and conquers all._

The prophecy was recorded and copies given to the rulers of each of the ancient clans involved. At first the clans looked for her tirelessly but over the millennia, as often happens, the prophecy turned into legend and then myth. It was not handed down as it should have been and for one clan that mistake may prove fatal.

She was born during a new moon, at the darkest time of the lunar cycle, and Guardians were dispatched to keep watch. As she grew she was not what they expected – small body, clumsy and painfully shy but beautiful and with an inner strength that was unparalleled. At 16 the dreams began, a way for her to grow accustomed to where she came from and what she would become and while she didn't understand them – they gave her comfort for some reason. At 17 when she fell in love with the vampire, they thought she had found her mate early and prepared to explain to both, on her 18th birthday, what they would be to the world. But life intervened and the vampire fearing for the safety of his love left her – telling her lies of his love ending and not wanting to spend eternity with her – she was broken.

They watched the broken girl for weeks and then, knowing time was short, the Guardians approached her with her destiny and her task. They explained who they where – Tuatha De Danann or fae- they explained her destiny, the prophecy, her dreams and assigned her the task of finding her mate. Once he was found they would come again and explain to both what was to be done and how to prepare for a battle none of the clans could foresee.

She searched the cities and countries they pointed her to Vancouver, London, Romania, Egypt, Brazil, and in the highlands of Scotland under a full moon just before her 20th birthday she found him. Laird Gabriel Hamilton, a mix of the ancient lycan and berserker bloodlines and together they set out to fulfill their destinies.


	2. The Letter

Chapter 1

5 Years Later – Leeds, England – Cullen Residence

Things had changed for the Cullen's after leaving Washington and things were changing in the world of mythical creatures as well. People were starting to believe again, with each new occurence they believed more and more. The rulers of the clans started to care less about being hidden but did not want to come fully into the light. Still, plans were being made with the hope of being the ruling clan at the end and yet the prophecy was once again forgotten – someone should have remembered.

A small portion of each of the clans waited and watched and hoped that they would be left alone, to live in peace with humans and just exist. The Cullen Coven had such hopes but, as is often the case, they were in vain. Leaving Bella was hard on each of them in different ways. In the first few years Alice was able to get snippets of visions about her, they knew she was searching for something and assumed it was Edward. Before long they would find out how wrong assuming anything could be. When the visions stopped they searched for traces of her, fearing she had died and what Edward would do with that knowledge. After six months when they could find no trace of her or an attack and realized that her family and friends were not at all worried about her they once again made the assumption that she had moved on and did not want to be found and they stopped looking. But as often happens when you stop looking for something, it eventually finds you. In truth she had moved on but in ways they never could have expected or foreseen. Edward was called back to the family, so they could help each other heal and hopefully continue to exist in peace. The letter awaiting Carlisle at home was about to change all of that.

Carlisle read the letter and was shocked. Someone was laying a very serious charge against his family and he was being called before the Overseer to answer it. He passed the letter to his family and waited for his escort. The letter read:

Carlisle Cullen-

A member of your coven has been accused of trafficking young human women to non-human men for purposes of sex slavery and blood farms. The taking of these women, especially the mass takings from female schools and universities, has also caused hysteria in the human world and put our world at an extreme risk of exposure. These charges must be answered. Two members of the Executioners will come to escort you to the Keeper and me so that you may answer these charges. You will come alone.

The Overseer

As the letter was passed around Carlisle heard the questions of his family: Who is the Overseer? Who is the Keeper? Who would make such allegations? What did they hope to gain? Should Carlisle really go alone? Would he return? If so, in what condition? He knew he had to put his family's fears to rest – as much as he could. So he carefully spoke his next words, I can tell you that not much is known about the Overseer or the Keeper and the ones who do know anything never speak of them. Personally, Carlisle started, all I know of them are rumors and hearsay but I will share what I have heard. They are immortal, they are ancient and they are mates. They come from the most ancient and purest of bloodlines. They are obviously hybrids, however, which bloodlines and what exactly the mix is no one knows. The rulers of the different clans use them to carry out the laws and judgments that would be too difficult for their own guards. They are also sought out for advice and to mediate problems between the clans. They are definitely very powerful and feared by even the most ancient in any world. Their influence can be felt and seen through out history in our world and to a lesser extent the human world also. It is said they go back to the beginning of time.

She, the female, is the Keeper and is also the leader of The Guardians. The Guardians are all female and the mediators of our world. They guard the truly innocent of our world and are seen more as mother figures. Do not let that fool you though; when the Immortal Children were destroyed it was by their hands that they died, without hesitation or mercy. He, the male, is the Overseer and is the leader of The Executioners. The Executioners are just what the name suggests. They carry out the judgments of the clans and The Guardians. They are truly the warriors of our world and while Guardians show no mercy, the Executioners are savage in seeing their orders carried out.

People have speculated that the two tribes are mated as their leaders are, but since no one knows the number of each tribe it is kept at speculation. What is known is that a lycan was once stupid enough to attack one of the Guardians and has never been heard or seen from again. From time to time a piece of him surfaces with a message sent that there are things worse than death. With that thought a shiver passed through each of the Cullen's, wondering what exactly the next few days held for the family.

A knock sounded at the door and everyone looked to Carlisle as he stood to answer it. He opened the door to two of the largest men he had ever seen, easily 6'8". One had moss green eyes, long dark hair pulled back in a leather thong and a scent that was faintly lycan. The other had ice blue eyes, long blonde hair pulled back in a leather thong except for two braids in the front and had a scent unlike anything he had ever smelled. The entire coven immediately went on alert and recognized the fact that of everyone there they were not the predators. Carlisle recognized the braids for what they were – war braids. Come, they said, and with that one word Carlisle looked at his family for what he hoped would not be the last time and left with the two warriors.


	3. Arriving

Chapter 2

The car ride was quiet and long. The two men did not introduce themselves to Carlisle, so he took the hint and remained silent. As they drove north through the English countryside and into Scotland it occurred to Carlisle that he didn't know where they were going and to the best of his knowledge no one had any idea where the Guardians or Executioners lived. This did not put his mind at ease. Once they passed into the Scottish Highlands the men seemed to relax a little, as if they were finally on familiar ground. When they passed Drumberg you could smell the sea and both men inhaled deeply and slightly smiled as if saying I'm home. They had driven all night and 30 minutes past Drumberg the green eyed one said something in a language Carlisle didn't recognize and it felt as if the car and his body had shimmered through something. He wondered if they had done something to him even though he felt no change. They turned off onto a dirt road and in the distance he could see a stone dance on the right. During his centuries he had seen many stone dances in England, what surprised him about this one was that it was still standing and complete. When they topped the hill the forest opened up and there stood a huge castle. Carlisle felt like he had been transported to the London of his youth, only this was much older. It was a true Scottish castle, with a keep and village. It was historically accurate in every way, even down to the protective wall around the village and he wondered how they kept this hidden from the world. The car stopped in front of the castle doors; the blue eyed man turned back to Carlisle and said "Welcome to Hamilton Castle Mr. Cullen".

Carlisle was led into the castle and upstairs to what was obviously an office and told to wait for the Overseer. Minutes later when the door opened Carlisle was speechless, he knew this man. As he tried to remember the memory it was fuzzy, but that wasn't possible. He had met this man in Volterra as a vampire he was sure of it and if that was the case he should have perfect recall of that memory. The man chuckled at the look on Carlisle face and said, "Yes Carlisle we have met before. No I am not a mind reader but it is obvious what you are thinking. We met in Volterra once when I was reporting back from a mission. The Executioners prefer to remain as anonymous as possible and so the memories of those who meet us are altered so that details are forgotten. We do not like to wipe out entire memories unless absolutely necessary. Please, have a seat; I am Gabriel Hamilton, Laird to the Hamilton Clan and the Overseer."

Carlisle, for once, stumbled into his seat. This man had to be close to 7" tall, he had a good 3 inches on the other two he had met and his body was at least 2 times the size Emmett. He looked every inch of the Highland Warlord he was. Once again Carlisle got a whiff of lycan and the scent of the blue eyed one that he didn't recognize. Who are these people he wondered? One thing he knew was that whatever they are, they were higher one the food chain than vampires he knew he was the prey and Gabriel was the predator. So he waited for Gabriel to open the conversation.

"Carlisle," Gabriel started, "as you know a charge has been brought against your coven for abducting and trafficking in human women. Not only is this a serious charge but the fact it is being done carelessly without regard of the secrecy laws is also troubling. Because of your friendship with Aro and the Volturi the Guardians have been asked to step in and conduct the investigation of these charges. I am sure you do not know this but your coven has carried the mark of the Guardians since the day you were turned. My wife personally marked each member and has had a soft spot in her heart for them every since. Because of this, she knew immediately when one of the marks disappeared that some type of problem was occurring with your coven and has had someone watching your coven."

Carlisle didn't know what to say. His coven had been marked and was being watched. While he knew the mark was a symbol of honor in his world, the mark of an innocent. They fact that they were being watched was alarming. The Keeper had personally marked each of them and to then have such serious charges brought. She would be upset about this; it could be seen as a personal slight. Questions flew through his mind. How mad was she? Would he be given a chance to explain? And more importantly, why wasn't she explaining this? The fact that an Executioner was having this conversation with him did not go unnoticed. If he was given the chance to explain, how do you explain something you know nothing about? Carlisle had no idea where to begin.

Before he could Gabriel spoke again. "Let me first see if I can put some of you concerns to rest" he said. "You look as if you would have a headache if that were possible. My wife wanted to be here for this meeting but she has been delayed in Russia mediating a problem with the druids. She is very upset that these charges have been made, but in anticipation of this the watcher has reported that she has witnessed nothing out of the ordinary and Isabelle, my wife, expects to find them false. Isabelle expects to be home by tomorrow afternoon or the following morning at the latest, she would like for you to stay with us until then if possible so she may speak with you personally. You would be permitted to call your coven to let them know you are fine and put some of their fears about your safety to rest." When Carlisle was unable to hide the shock on his face fast enough Gabriel continued, "Carlisle, we would like to consider you a guest at the keep and not a prisoner."

Carlisle agreed to stay to meet with the Keeper and called his family who were not happy that he was staying but understood his position. He was given a room for his stay, told in what part of the surrounding forest he could hunt in if needed and allowed to explore the castle and village as much as he wanted. The sun decided to make an appearance so Carlisle explored the castle as much as possible. When you have the kind of senses that vampires do, especially sight and hearing, finding the hidden passages in a castle can almost be considered a challenge – almost. Eventually he made his way to the portrait hall; this held the family portrait of every Laird of the Hamilton Clan. Carlisle noticed several things about the portraits, most of the Lairds and their sons had the ice blue eyes he had seen on the one man (although the eyes of the wives seemed to vary), the Lairds obviously lived long lives (150 years on average if his math was right) and they always had sons – only sons. As he passed each portrait he began to wonder what are these people, instead of who are these people. He left the portrait hall and returned to the keep part of the castle to look over the fireplace where the most recent portrait of the current Laird and his family would be hung and if possible he would have gone into shock upon seeing it. Isabelle was standing behind her sitting husband, their heads close to each other, surrounded by their 10 sons (including the two who escorted him to the castle), all looking at their mother with love and adoration. Carlisle recognized the woman in the portrait, although he didn't know her as Isabelle, and as he stepped closer to the painting he whispered "Bella".

**A/N: I keep forgetting to do the disclaimer so here goes – I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Also, the keep is the large dining hall part of a castle.**


	4. Impressions

Chapter 3

Carlisle continued to stare at the portrait, it couldn't be her and yet it was. He studied the painting more closely and could find bits and pieces of her in the men surrounding her, this knowledge flooded his mind with more questions. The men appeared to be between the ages of 25-30 while Bella still looked the same as when they left. How is this possible he wondered? The Keeper and Overseer were mentioned throughout vampire history, they were ancient. And still, Carlisle knew Bella couldn't be more than 23 years old. He needed answers. Answers to questions concerning Bella and answers about what was happening with his family. The first problem to solve was who to ask, Laird Hamilton would be the obvious choice but it appeared as if Bella had not told him about her prior relationship with his family. That would present an entirely new problem but he knew no one in the clan would answer questions about the Lady of the clan without the Laird's permission, so if he wanted answers he would have to speak to Gabriel first. He asked one the maids to please tell the Laird he would like to speak to him and waited for that time to arrive.

Gabriel was confused as to why Carlisle would want a meeting. He had made it clear he would not discuss the charges with him until his wife was present, so what did Carlisle want. Gabriel went to Carlisle and asked him to take a walk through the village, hoping to keep this conversation as civil as possible. Carlisle commented he couldn't because the sun was out. Gabriel chuckled and said, "Carlisle you will find that it takes a lot to surprise my people. They know what you are and will probably enjoy the sight of you in the sun." The children especially enjoyed the "rainbow" effect Carlisle's skin seemed to have, so it took a while for Gabriel and him to be alone on their walk.

Gabriel knew Carlisle had questions and told him to ask them but respect the fact that some things were not his story to tell and he would have to wait for Isabelle to arrive to get his answers. Agreeing to his conditions Carlisle started his inquisition:

What are you? A mix of Lycan and Berserker bloodlines

Berserker? One of Odin's warriors

I thought they were a myth? Humans think Vampires are myths.

How old are you? Almost 3,500 years

How old is Isabelle? Almost 3,000 years

How long have you been mated? Mated? 2,975 years

Married? Married for 2,005 – it took me close to a millennia to convince her.

How old are your sons? Between 500 and 1,500 years old

They look to be 25 or 30? Yes, and they always will.

What are they? Hybrids like their mother & I.

What type of hybrid? You will need to ask Isabelle, she is

extremely protective of that information.

What is she? Ask her.

"This is very hard for me to believe" Carlisle said. "You must understand, I met Isabelle

when she was human, that was just five years ago, and her name was Bella." Gabriel

looked at Carlisle and asked "You are a coven of seven correct? Three mated pairs and

one unmated male?" Carlisle nodded yes. Gabriel started talking to himself, so he is the vampire. The one who rejected her and then regretted it. It would explain the curiosity and affection that we have never understood for the Cullen coven. He turned to Carlisle and asked, "The unmated male, he was in love with Bella but left her, correct?" Again Carlisle nodded and said, "Yes. There was an accident on her 18th birthday. She was put at risk by one of my sons, so to protect her Edward begged us to leave so she could have a normal human life." Now it was Gabriel's turn to nod his head. "But she was never going to have a normal human life" Gabriel said, "and that is not what he told her when he left. Because of his insecurities he was cruel to her, however it did show her he was unworthy and ultimately made her stronger. It is possible she may thank him, if she remembers."

"What do you mean if she remembers, they are mates" stated Carlisle. "No, they are not" Gabriel growled. "You need to understand; he may consider her his mate however she **knows** she is my mate. When you see us together you will understand what I am trying to say. I have answered all of your questions I can. For the rest of the answers we will have to wait for Isabelle, she should be here by sunrise. I will warn you Carlisle, I will not allow you or your coven to upset or attempt to pressure her into anything. When you return to your coven I think it would be best if you prepare them, especially Edward, about who she is, that she does not fully remember her time with them and that she is my mate and wife. I will not keep this information about Edward from her but even having this information will not change anything between her and me. I know and trust in her love for me, she will not leave me and it is in Edward's best interest to know that from the start. I will have someone come for you when she arrives. Good night." With that Gabriel turned and left Carlisle under the stars with his thoughts.

Carlisle spent the hours until sunrise thinking about everything Gabriel had said. How could she not remember? And why was she never going to have a normal human life? Sometimes it seemed as if Gabriel spoke about things he should have known, almost as if they were common knowledge. How would he explain this to his family and how would they take it? How would Edward respond to her not remembering? Gabriel seemed so sure that even with that knowledge of Edward's love it would not matter to her, she would not return Edward's feelings. Was that possible, they were very in love? Did Edward leave her the way Gabriel said and if so, how did he know that when Carlisle didn't?

While Carlisle was lost in his thoughts Isabelle did return to the castle. Gabriel knew the second she passed onto Hamilton land as his body became less tense. He knew the second she passed the wards around the castle because his breathing came easier, his chest less tight. When she finally entered their bedchamber and touched him is when the missing part of him returned and he was truly at peace with the world. They had been apart for days and the berserker in him demanded that he claim her as his, but he knew first he had to tell about his conversation with Carlisle – about Edward. He replayed their entire conversation to her about Edward, what they were to each other and his conclusion that it probably happened during what she called "the missing time". As he thought would be the case, it did not change a thing for her or for them. Isabelle looked at her highland warlord and said, "I am yours, my laird. Come and claim me – now." Claim her he did, several times until sunrise.

At sunrise Carlisle was escorted to Gabriel's office to meet with him and Isabelle. When they entered he was unable to mask the shock on his face. It was definitely Bella but she was glowing in the way a woman who is deeply loved does. He understood now what Gabriel meant when he said he was confident she wouldn't leave him. Love was written all over them, in the way they looked and especially touched each other. She was confident in the Laird's love for her in a way she never had been with Edward and that allowed her to love him in a way never possible with Edward. Their connection appeared to be deeper and purer than any mated pair he had ever seen, even he and Esme. Carlisle was very happy for her but at the same time realized the problems this would create within his family.

Isabelle crossed to Carlisle and hugged him saying, "It is nice to finally meet you Carlisle. I wish it was under better circumstances." Carlisle raised an eyebrow to Gabriel silently asking if he had told her yet. Isabelle laughed and said, "Yes, Gabriel has told me all about your talk yesterday and I am sure you have questions about me being the Keeper. I would like to put those questions on hold and first deal with the charges against your coven. I will gladly answer any and all of your questions about me personally after you return to Hamilton Castle with your entire coven, OK?" After Carlisle agreed to her terms, Isabelle sat behind the desk and said "now let's talk about the charges and the missing mark."

**Disclaimer – I do not own Twilight or the characters.**


	5. Meeting

Chapter 4

"First, I need to explain about being marked and how exactly they work", Isabelle explained, "the fact that it disappeared suddenly is what makes the charges suspect."

"In our world an innocent is not someone who is pure in thought and deed as in the human world. But rather someone who goes against their nature to better themselves, be all that they can be as the saying goes. You definitely qualify as an innocent, not only by going against your vampire nature to drink human blood but to be able to train yourself and deny your nature to the point where you can be a surgeon to humans, very few in our world are as innocent as you are Carlisle. Your nature and your actions are why you were selected to be marked. Your beliefs, ideals and the way you cherish human life are the reasons why I marked you personally. You are also the reason the new members of your coven were "given the benefit of the doubt" and also marked as they joined. The mark does not disappear with one or two offenses, it will slowly fade with repeated, malicious actions as the soul moves from light to dark."

"For example, when Edward went off for a decade his mark started to fade but he was never close to losing it. Yes he fed off humans, but by feeding only off the scum of the human world he actually saved human lives and slowed the fading of his mark. Rosalie's killing of the men who raped her did not affect her mark at all. Jasper, Emmett and Esme's occasional slip ups have never affected their marks either. Over time Edward's mark was fully restored, as his actions brought him back into the light. Do you have a better understanding of how the mark works now?" Isabelle asked.

Carlisle nodded, "But I have never seen a mark on myself or any of my family?"

"You will never be able to see it without the aid of a Guardian, but trust me it is there." Isabelle said. "When you return with your coven we will need to check all of your marks and if you like I can show them to you then. Now about the missing mark, your coven was checked a year ago and at that time Emmett's mark was gone. Remember that they fade slowly and yet it was if Emmett had never been marked. At that time a watcher was put on your coven and a separate one on Emmett to gather information and observe, nothing out of the ordinary has ever been reported. This is why we believe the charges to be false and agreed to investigate." What Isabelle didn't explain to Carlisle was that whoever did this either fabricated the evidence against Emmett well enough that they could manipulate even Emmett and his coven into believing he did it or they had used very powerful magic to remove it and had covered their tracks very well. The fact that the Guardians were not immediately alerted of the change to his mark and it was found during a random check made Isabelle think it was removed intentionally by someone powerful and very, very good at hiding their actions.

"The charges" Isabelle began, "are for one of the most serious crimes in our world. The crime against the human women is bad enough but with the risk of exposure added in, if found guilty, I expect destruction to be the penalty and not just for Emmett but for the entire coven." Carlisle had no idea where to start, his family lived in peace and hurt no one, why was this happening to them now? "But why" Carlisle started, only to be cut off by Gabriel. " If found guilty no one will believe that he did this by himself. Who better to help him then his father and brother figures? Does anyone outside a mate have more loyalty to him than them? Few people worry about the reasons behind an action, the action itself is what they seek punishment for." Carlisle knew Gabriel had a point. He had seen enough in his existence to know that most times the accusation was enough to condemn his family in most eyes, so what did they do now to fight this. "How do we fight this?" he asked.

Isabelle and Gabriel looked at each other before Gabriel spoke. "Have you been paying much attention to the human world lately? The taking of the women, the animal mutilations at Stonehenge and the sightings of wolves and animal attacks in Russia have people in the human world taking notice. What people would normally overlook is not happening now and the "crazies" are gathering a following. People are starting to believe again in the supernatural and that is not good for those who wish to remain hidden. Also, the way the charges were disclosed was very irregular. That it happened at a council meeting of the clans is normal, that they were anonymous is not. I believe that there is more at stake here than just your coven, possibly our entire way of life and the destruction of your coven could be what starts it all. This is why the Volturi asked the Guardians to step in and investigate, but having them do the investigation could present new problems I am sure the Volturi knows nothing about."

"How could that be a problem? They are mediators!" Carlisle declared. At his outburst Isabelle spoke, "Because the Volturi have no idea I marked you personally and I would bet that whoever brought the charges does. It will be argued, if you are found innocent, that I was not impartial and I would never destroy your coven. This, of course, will cause people not to trust the Guardians as I am sure it is meant to do. You must realize how your coven is viewed in this world. People's opinions on your way of life are very black or white. Either they understand and feel you should be free to live how you want or they consider you a freak against your nature and should be removed because of it. Either way your coven is a good way to start a clan war and possibly one with the humans as well. You must see the bigger picture Carlisle." Carlisle sat completely still for five minutes while he processed this information and then asked the question that he was sure sealed the fate of his family, "What should we do?"

"First you must understand that we can only speak freely within the castle walls. The wards my sons and I have put around the castle are strong enough to keep any but the fae out and I am 100% sure they are not behind this." Isabelle explained. "Once you leave here your memories will remain intact but Edward will not be able to clearly read your mind about things, they will be fuzzy as were your memories of Gabriel. Be careful of what you speak of with them. They must believe you are just going to look into why someone would set up Emmett and not the bigger scheme of things. Always remember that any one could be listening and probably is. It will appear as if the Guardians are doing nothing more than a regular investigation but please be assured that we will be doing much more. We realize, perhaps better than anyone, what is at stake. You are expected to return to the castle in two weeks time so your coven can be checked and we can obtain statements from them. There are standard procedures we do in interrogations, they will not be pleasant and you need to prepare them for that. You should be at the castle for three or four days and then be will allowed to return to your home."

At this point Gabriel turned to Carlisle, "when the time comes four Executioners will be sent to escort your coven back to Hamilton Castle. In the meantime talk to your coven and the Volturi, they will be expecting you to contact them. Make arrangements to go to them, you need access to the most ancient history and documents and the Volturi have that. Edward, Jasper and Alice need to be on constant guard for anything out of the ordinary and write it down. Do not discuss anything specific until you are back here inside the castle. Look carefully at what is not there as well as what is. If someone is hiding their emotions or thoughts, maybe Alice sees someone's future disappear or can not see it at all. Take note of all of it, in the end we do not yet know what may make the difference. Do you understand? Your coven must be ready for this task Carlisle, at the very least their lives all depend on it." Carlisle assured Gabriel that he understood and he would make sure his coven did also, they would be ready when the time came.

As Carlisle stood to leave Isabelle spoke, " Leif and Soren will escort you back to your home. They are the two that brought you here. I would like to apologize for their rudeness, they should have introduced themselves to you. Be safe Carlisle." She called for her two sons, Leif (the green eyed one) entered followed by Soren (the blue eyed one), kissed their mother on the cheek, nodded to their father and turned to Carlisle once again and said "Come" and then strode out of the castle leaving Carlisle to follow. Isabelle shook her head then turned to Gabriel stating, "They get their arrogance from you." Gabriel laughed and spoke, "that they do 'nam gràdh but it is part of what will help carry us through the coming battle." With that he plucked his wife up and over his shoulder to enjoy one of their last carefree days for while, her laughter following them out of the castle.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

'**nam gràdh means my love in Scottish Gaelic**


	6. Explaining

Chapter 5

Carlisle was thankful for the silent ride home; it gave him time to process the last two and a half days. Many of his original questions had been answered. However, those answers only served to spiral into more questions and that is before Bella was thrown into the mix. What exactly should he tell his family? Bel – no he thought she is now Isabelle. Isabelle and Gabriel had both stressed that his family was probably being watched by someone else, so how much could he safely explain outside of Hamilton Castle? He knew he only had this car ride to figure it out, he would be bombarded with questions the second he walked through the door. So, he welcomed the silence and used it wisely.

As the car pulled up in front of the house he could hear his family inside, anxiously waiting for his return and details of his meeting. He thanked the two men and they reminded him that everyone was to return in two weeks time, that piece of information did nothing but increase the anxiety of those inside. Before he could reach the door it was opened by Alice and he was pulled into the house. Immediately he was surrounded with everyone trying to ask questions at the same time, Carlisle used this time to hand each a copy of the note he had written in the car. It read:

We are being watched by friend and foe; some things can not be explained fully at this time. Respect that and I will tell you as much as I can.

As they read the brief note Carlisle had them move around the dining room table so he could tell them of his meeting. Once everyone was seated he began, "I will explain what has happened the last few days. I do not have all of the answers, some questions they refused to answer until we all return to the castle in two weeks. Please, let me finish before you start asking your questions." He looked at each member of his family and they nodded their agreement.

With their agreement Carlisle began his tale. "When we left here we drove north all night into the Scottish Highlands to Hamilton Castle. It reminded me of London when I was human only older, there is a standing complete stone dance, the castle, a village and even a protection wall surrounding everything. It feels as if you are walking into a medieval reenactment, only this is very real. I was immediately taken into an office to meet the Overseer. He is Laird Gabriel Hamilton and I have met him before in Volterra. He looked very familiar and when I couldn't remember, he told me where we had met and that they obscure people's memories of them to protect their privacy." At that he turned to Edward and raised an eyebrow in question. "I see", Edward answered, "that is why most of the trip is cloudy in your mind?" Carlisle just nodded and continued.

"Gabriel explained that our family had been marked and when the charges were brought forward Aro and the Volturi asked that the Guardians be the ones to investigate the matter. The Keeper was detained in Russia dealing with a druid problem, so they asked me to stay until she could return and talk to me. I was given a room, called home and then explored the castle. I ended up in the portrait hall and made some curious observations. Most of the Laird's have ice blue eyes, just like the current one, they only have sons and judging by the dates the clan gets a new laird about every 150 years. I went to the keep to look at the most current portrait; it is of the Laird, Lady and their ten sons." Looking directly at Edward, Carlisle clearly thought, Lady Hamilton is Bella.

Edward jumped up and started yelling, "NO! NO! NO! That just is not possible Carlisle. You said they were ancient, she is 23 and human. I don't know what you are trying to pull but it is not her." The rest of the family was looking between Edward and Carlisle asking who they were talking about. Carlisle stood and sternly told Edward, "Sit down and I will explain as much as I can!" Looking at the rest of his family he continued, "The Keeper, Lady Isabelle Hamilton is Bella Swan." With that statement hell broke loose in the Cullen house.

Carlisle let them rant for two minutes; he recognized the shock his statement caused and the anger that needed to be released. He also knew that the anger toward Edward was only going to increase after he repeated what Gabriel had told him on their walk. Even knowing what would happen he could not keep the truth from his family, too much is at stake. "Sit down and listen" Carlisle said quietly and the sadness in his voice is what got through to them. "After seeing the painting I asked for a meeting with Gabriel. We took a walk outside in the sun. He was right when he said his people were not easily shocked, they knew what I was and the children loved the "rainbow" I was able to carry with me as the sun hit my skin. It was an uncomfortable walk for me even before we started talking. Gabriel is 3,500 years old and is a hybrid of Lycan and Berserker." Carlisle heard the gasps from his family but refused to look up at them, at this point he just wanted to get the story out.

"Isabelle is 3,000 years old, they have been mated for 2,975 years and married for 2,005. He said it took awhile to convince her to marry him. They have 10 sons between the ages of 500 – 1,500 who look to be between 25-30 including the two escorts I had, Leif ( with green eyes) and Soren (with blue eyes). I asked what their sons and Isabelle were and was told to ask her. I explained how I knew Bella as a human, our history with her, our leaving and her history with Edward. He said Edward was the one who left with regret and that Bella was never going to have a normal human life. He spoke this with authority, as if it was common knowledge and something we should have known. Then he said Edward was cruel when he last spoke with Bella, told her he didn't love her or want her for an eternity. Is that true Edward?" Carlisle asked. With that Edward reached his limit and ran out of the house.

Emmett and Jasper stood to go after him, "Let him go" Carlisle said, "there is more and I do not think he can handle it. Gabriel mentioned that Isabelle does not remember us clearly and something she calls 'the missing years'. I asked how she could not remember, they are mates, her and Edward. He became upset and said NO they are not. Edward may consider Bella his mate but Isabelle knows she is Gabriel's mate and that I would understand when I saw them together. When they walked in together the next morning to meet with me I did understand. The love they share when they look at each other and more so when they touch each other, I have never in my almost 400 years seen anything like it – never. Isabelle glows with her love for him, she is his mate and wife and we need to make sure Edward understands that before we return in two weeks. We have more to talk about, but we need to help Edward deal with this first and we definitely need him here when we discuss the meeting I had about the charges. Emmett, Jasper give him two hours then go bring him back, he can not hide from this, none of us can." With that Carlisle went to his study and left his family alone so each could process their thoughts.

Edward had not run off though, he didn't want to see his family, the look in their eyes when they realized what he had told Bella when he left. But, he had to hear the rest of what Carlisle was saying, he was only a mile away in the trees. None of this made sense to him, it just could not be Bella. The Keeper's age, kids, the number of years married and a love great than theirs? NO! Carlisle was mistaken, she may look like Bella but she most definitely was not, she couldn't be, could she? What would he do if everything Carlisle said was true? When his two hours were up Edward returned on his own, he didn't want his brothers dragging him back. They would enjoy it too much. Edward went back to the table and called out to the house, "I'm ready."

After everyone was seated Carlisle passed around a note he had written in his study for them to read. It explained what he couldn't say out loud: how the Keeper personally marked each of them, Emmett's mark disappearing a year ago and that it alerted the Guardians a problem was coming, the watchers, the odd way the charges were brought, the possibility of much larger problems, the potential for clan wars, the things they were all to look for and the things Edward, Alice and Jasper should take special note of and write down. He stressed that none of these things were to be discussed until they returned to Hamilton Castle.

"All I have left to tell you about is the meeting with Gabriel and Isabelle. You read the charges from the letter so I won't go over those, however, they both feel that if we are found guilty the penalty will be the destruction of all of us. We are allowed to gather our own evidence and they will look into it and take it under consideration. They also recommended that we visit the Volturi as that is where the most accurate records and histories are stored. When we return to Hamilton Castle we will be interrogated. They did say it would not be pleasant and it would last 3 to 4 days but I have no idea what they will do to us or how long the investigation will last. Be prepared for anything. That is everything." Carlisle stated as he finished his tale. He suggested that everyone take the rest of the night to think about what needed to be done and the best way to assign tasks. They would meet again at 8am in the dining room, compare notes and then assign the tasks to be completed in the next two weeks. "Edward", Carlisle called out, "you need to be prepared to discuss Isabelle and how you will and will not behave at the castle. They will not tolerate you upsetting her. Technically this is the reason you left her, so she could move on, be prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions. Even if they did not turn out how you had hoped."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters.**


	7. Cullen Assignments

Chapter 6

As each one left the room they patted Edward on the shoulder, knowing he would be the one with the hardest decision tonight. He would be deciding the way he would be saying goodbye to his mate.

The couples spent the night discussing how best to proceed, they all essentially had the same questions. Who were the charges actually against? Why would someone frame them? What did the Volturi know? Why didn't Alice see any of this? These crimes had been occurring for over a year, what type of evidence could be gathered now? Gabriel was a Berserker? Most thought they didn't exist, Jasper thought they were extinct. What else was out there that people thought were myths and were actually a clan in hiding? Were these charges actually against them, the Volturi or vampires in general? What could they really accomplish in two weeks? As sunrise passed, their thoughts turned toward Edward and Bella. How could she not remember? What were the missing years? If she could be made to remember would it change things? She was the Keeper, married and had children, should they even be hoping that things could be changed? It would be easier on Edward but would it be easier on her? How would Edward react to seeing her again? With her family? When this was all over what would he do then? How would he go on?

Eight o'clock found them all gathered around the table again. Carlisle started the discussion with Edward. "I think we first need to discuss how you feel about seeing her again Edward. On some level you need to appreciate the fact that she did move on and is living the life you wanted for her. She is married and has a family, she is not completely human but everything else is what you said you wanted for her. Are you going to try to upset that and is what Gabriel said true about how you left her?"

"Yes", Edward answered. "I left her like he said. I knew she wasn't going to give up easily, I lied to her to help her move on faster." With that admission he heard the thoughts condemning his actions. How could you hurt her like that (Carlisle), she didn't deserve that (Rosalie), that isn't how you treat someone you love (Esme), you are a douche Edward (Emmett) and from Alice and Jasper, you have no idea how much she loved you and instead of asking about her feelings you left her, cruelly. From everyone, how do you do that to someone you love? "I deserve each of the things you are thinking and more. Please believe that I do love her and I only wanted to do what was best for her. You saw and are still witnessing what leaving her has done to me. You have to understand." Edward whispered. "We do understand Edward", Esme said "and now you need to understand that everything you just said and did is about what you wanted for her and not what she wanted. It was a mistake not only to leave her but to leave the way we did. We respected your wishes on this Edward and now it is time for you to respect ours. If you love her like you say you do, then when we go to the castle you will respect her wishes and whatever boundaries she sets. If she doesn't remember, expect her to be friendly but in the casual way of acquaintances and accept that that is all she can offer you. If she does remember, then she has already made her choice. She could have come for you and didn't. Respect that and take whatever she offers you, even if that is only her anger." "I don't think I can do that. I want her to remember us. I want her to be mine" Edward exclaimed. "She was yours once and you threw her away." yelled Alice. "I will not allow you to be that selfish again and ruin the happiness she now has. I want her in our lives in whatever she can be. If I have to have Jasper tie you down as Emmett rips your legs off you will behave or answer to me Edward, I mean it." Edward bowed his head and nodded, his family would not help him in pursuing her.

"Now, onto what everyone will be doing the next two weeks", Carlisle said, "Since the charges are against Emmett…" At that everyone gasped. "What do you mean the charges are against Emmett?" shrieked Rosalie. "Why didn't you say this last night?"

I apologize Rosalie, since the entire family is being held accountable and I know the charges to be false I did not think it really mattered who they say committed the crimes" Carlisle said. He continued, "Rosalie and Emmett should stay away from where the women went missing. We do not need evidence that he was there even if it is after the fact. I think you should call on our friends, especially the nomads, to find out if they have heard anything about this, especially the blood farms. It can not be easy to keep something like that a secret in our world. Also, look to see if anything abnormal has been happening in Romania, Siberia or around Stonehenge."

Carlisle turned to Jasper and Alice, "You two need to look into the actual taking of the girls. From what I understand most of the events have happened in the United States, people tend to believe less there than in Europe and it would be easier to write the attacks off as a cult or a psychopathic human. Specifically look at: Sweet Briar, Wellesley and Chatham Colleges, Tulane and Fordham Universities as they are all female schools. Be careful at Tulane, it is in New Orleans and the Cajuns and Gypsy's there believe in our world and will recognize you as vampires. They will not want to share anything they know with you, they won't trust you. Also look in New York and Florida as they have the highest percentage of all female prep schools. Attacks have happened in all of these locations in one form or another. Be sure to gather information on the girls taken as well as who may have taken them. We need to know if they are only taking a certain type of girl."

"Esme, Edward and I will be going to see the Volturi. Isabelle said they have the oldest histories and documents, I think there is something for us to find in those files. I am hoping my friendship with Aro will open more doors for us also. Since they attend the inter-clan council meetings they should be able to point us in the right direction or at least be able to rank the other clans based on who could pull this off, who would want to and why it appears someone holds a grudge. I need you there Edward to find out who is being honest, who is hiding something and to what extent. Aro is, of course, aware you are a mind reader so the others are probably aware too but I am hoping you will still be able to pick up who is hiding something and how hard they are blocking you. Any questions?" Carlisle finished.

"When do we need to be back?" asked Jasper. "The escort will be here for us in 13 days. Everyone needs to be back here, at the house, in 12 days so we can go over what we have found and prepare for our trip to the castle. You must be back in 12 days, understood? I am not sure what the penalty will be if one of us does not go but I am sure it will be severe." With the meeting over each couple went to discuss their strategy to cover the most ground in the least amount of time.

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or its characters.**


	8. Hamilton Assignments

Chapter 7

The morning after Carlisle's departure Isabelle and Gabriel called their sons and mates together to tell them of the most recent assignment. They explained the charges against the Cullen's, Carlisle's visit, Isabelle's prior connection to Edward and the Cullen's, the fact that Isabelle had marked the Cullen's personally and what they felt all of this meant to the Hamilton Clan, the Cullen's and the world. The boys and their wives listened intently to everything and then asked the question that meant the most to each of them. "What do we do to protect the Clan?"

"We start by protecting the Cullen's" stated Gabriel. He heard growls and groans from his sons. Thorne spoke and said, "Why are we protecting him, the others I understand but you know this Edward will only cause problems once he arrives at the castle." Gabriel stood and looked at each of his sons, "I am the laird of this clan and we will do as

I say. I have already warned Carlisle that interference by Edward will not be tolerated. If he starts to cause a problem take him to the dungeon and call for me. If you do not obey my wishes then it will be you I meet in the dungeon, understood?" All stated they understood but to Gabriel it looked as if his sons would like to cause Edward problems, if he started it or not and when he was honest with himself he found himself hoping Edward would start trouble. But what he said was, "Enough about him, let's discuss what will be happening the next two weeks."

He turned to his fourth son, Digby, "You and Elisabeth will be following Alice & Jasper. I expect them to be the ones to check the locations where the girls were taken. Do not get caught and remember, Jasper led armies in the south he is a fighter and strategist be prepared. Digby being part druid should take care of Alice's visions, if not you know how to get around her. Digby, I am sending you two because your druid part should be able to sort out the different kinds of magic being used. I am hoping you can identify something before they get to Tulane in New Orleans. Voodoo and magic are abundant there; it will help if you know exactly what you are looking for. The people in New Orleans may actually talk to you easier than Alice or Jasper; they will be able to sense your white magic. Use that to your advantage. When they return to the Cullen house you are to return to the castle."

He then turned to Soren, his third son, and spoke, "Soren, you and Ruth will be following Emmett and Rosalie, your berserker strength should easily contain him if need be. I am sure they will be visiting the Cullen's friends and nomads. They should be trying to find out what information is out there to be found about the blood farms. Hopefully, they will dig up enough rumors to give us solid leads. When they return to the Cullen house, return to the castle."

Isabelle spoke to her fifth son, Grim, "You and Jillian will go and speak with our Lycan contacts. Be sure to ask about underworld activity also, pay special attention to South America it has been quiet there for too long almost as if something or someone is waiting. We are hoping since you are full Lycan they will be more forthcoming with you. Watch out for the werewolves, they are up to something but they are the muscle definitely not the brains and the bottom feeders of the Lycan Clan. Check in every 3 days, in case your brothers need assistance, and return to the castle in 10 days to prepare for the Cullen's arrival."

"Ingram" Isabelle said as she addressed her seventh son, "You and Kate will go and see our Druid contacts. Be prepared for anything, I am thinking they are the brains behind this although I can not determine their reasons. Expect them to lie to you and because this is suppose to be a simple investigation you can not use brute force and take from their minds what we want to know. You must be subtle; your wife assures me you can be at times, do not prove her wrong. You will also check in every 3 days in case one of your brothers needs you and return to the castle in 10 days to help prepare."

She then turned to her youngest sons, twins Thorne and Thunder, "Your Fae abilities allow you to sift time and jump locations easily. I hope you have been practicing because over the next 12 days you will be doing quite a bit of both. You are searching for the girls and blood farms; if you go back to when they were taken it should be fairly easy to track where they are now. The more pressing questions you are trying to answer are they whys. Why is someone doing this? What do they hope to gain? Why the Cullen's? Why now? I don't think you will need to go back more than 5 years to find the beginnings of this. Take nothing at face value; someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to hide themselves, why? I expect you may need to split up, if you do check in with each other everyday and be back at the castle in 12 days."

"Michael and Catherine along with Leif and Mary will be looking into each of the Cullen's lives", Isabelle said about her first and second born. "Look deeply into each of them, including their human lives. Trace identities, money and family ties on each of them. Look at the people who provide these services for them and find out if anyone else as been looking into their lives. If they have, then look for the common thread, maybe there is a pattern that will tell us where the attack on them will come from, be it verbal or physical. Catherine and Mary will report back to the castle in 12 days with your findings. The boys will go to the Cullen house and serve as part of the escort to bring them here. And this time be more polite and introduce yourselves but do not give out any other information. Remember, Edward is a mind reader so block his ability."

"Haldor and Heidi will be looking into their life now that includes searching their house in Leeds. Keldan and Iris will be looking into their life in Forks and everything up until they moved to Leeds," Gabriel stated addressing his sixth and eighth sons. "Any evidence used against them will have to be fairly current, take their houses and lives apart if necessary but find what can be used against them. Heidi and Iris will report back to your mother in 12 days. Haldor and Keldan, you will stay to escort the Cullen's to the castle. Remember to conceal your minds. Hopefully your vampire status will put them at ease as much as is possible."

"Carlisle, Esme and Edward will be traveling to Volterra and we will leave them alone to make that trip in peace", Gabriel said as he moved to stand behind Isabelle. "One, they will be surrounded by vampires and the odds of us following them undetected is slim. Two, while we can not yet rule out that the Volturi may be behind this, to keep our true investigation quiet we can not appear to be openly looking into them. We will have to trust Carlisle to reveal if he finds anything there. And lastly there are things they need to discover for themselves. With the hints your mother and I dropped about the oldest documents we expect them to find out about the prophecy, they will need time to deal with that."

Isabelle reached back and took Gabriel's hands and wrapped them around her waist with hers sitting on top of them. She took a calming breath and addressed her family, "I told Carlisle when he returned with his coven I would tell them my story, what happened after they left, the missing years, everything leading up to today. It is up to each of you if you want to be there to hear it or not. I have never fully explained to you about the process or the missing years and I think because of this you are worried Edward will come here and be able to mess up our life and home. I am not going to get into everything now but trust your father and I, no one and nothing can upset our happy life. Edward is not a threat, your father is my missing piece and when I found him I was complete, as was he. Trust in our love for each other and understand that when I call those three years the missing years it is not because I don't fully remember them."

Their sons stood up as one unit and were an impressive sight. They looked every inch the highland warriors they were, even Thunder who was the shortest at 6'6". They hugged and kissed their mother, nodded at their father, took their mates hands and left the castle to fulfill their assigned duties. As they left Gabriel embraced his wife as an air of foreboding seemed to sweep into the castle and lay heavy on their hearts. "They will be fine and we will prevail" he said arrogantly, as much for himself as for his wife. "With you by my side, my highland warrior, how can we not" was her response.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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	9. Druids & Lycans

Chapter 8

Hamilton Castle and all who lived on Hamilton land spent the next 2 weeks preparing for the visitors. Everyone member of the Hamilton Clan was aware of mythical creatures, when the laird said it took a lot to surprise his people Carlisle could not have imagined how true that statement is. Gabriel and Isabelle called a clan meeting to explain that the Cullen's were animal drinking vampires and that they would probably hunt at least once while in the highlands. Families were told to be aware and on the nights they hunted to stay indoors as an extra precaution. They were told of the possible threats to the clan and to be on alert for outsiders, including lowlanders, and to immediately report anyone or anything strange to a member of the immediate family. They knew how special the family was and the clan was as protective of them as they were of the clan. They were informed that the Lady believed them to be innocent of the charges and that she knew them before she was a Hamilton. If she thought they were innocent that was good enough for the clan, the Cullen's would be protected on Hamilton land at all costs. Lastly, they were told that even though the Keeper believed them to be innocent, the Guardians had an investigation to handle and the interrogations would proceed as normal, but not to hold that against the Cullen's they would be free to explore the village and land as they wished. The last piece of information is what told the clan the Cullen's could be trusted, no visitor had ever been allowed to roam free on the land and creatures there for interrogation were NEVER allowed to leave the dungeons let alone the castle.

Nine days after leaving Ingram and Kate returned from visiting the Druids and not with the best of news. Ingram being a mix of the druid and berserker blood lines was able to read minds, very few could absolutely block their minds from him as his gift was very powerful. What he reported back to Gabriel & Isabelle was they expected, the druids were hiding something and it was big because they were obviously blocking Ingram hard, their effort was noticeable. The Druids, being the only clan whose members where mostly human, were dwindling in numbers and with their history most people in the world feared them. It could be reasoned out that they would do whatever it took to get rid of one of the other clans in exchange for longer life if not outright immortality, but who would grant them that was the question.

The answer came from Kate. Ingram's mate, Kate, was Brude, although if anyone asked they always said she was a druid. She was from the most ancient bloodline and she was a pure blood. The Druids were a diluted descendant of the Brude's. Brude's are like vampires or lycans, not truly immortal but very durable. The clans thought there were 12 Brudes left, all of which were locked in an underworld prison by the Fae millennia ago for trying to rid Earth of humans. In reality, there were 14 left, the 12 dark ones and the two light ones in the Hamilton Clan. The moment Kate stepped on Druid land she hoped what she was sensing was not true but she knew it would be. She told Gabriel and Isabelle that she sensed Brude magic when speaking with the leaders of the clan; it seemed as if they had been given a power boost.

This was troubling news; if the Brude's were behind this their freedom would not be enough. They would be looking to rule and that put all of the other clans in danger as well.

Grim & Jillian returned just hours after Ingram and Kate and prepared to give their report, mostly the news was as they expected. The higher level sects of the Lycan clan had no idea what the lower levels were doing. The Lycan leaders were not the ones aiding the druids but they were very excited about the fact that some vampires were causing trouble. They saw this as their way to get rid of more than a few vampires and shake their power base on the council. The Volturi normally did a very good job of policing the vampires, so the fact that they had a coven out of control was exciting to the Lycan clan and they would exploit it as much as possible. They would not be happy if the Cullen's were found innocent.

The trip to South America is what proved the werewolves are involved Grim reported. The girls were being held in a compound that could have passed for a rustic resort and guarded by werewolves. What surprised Jillian most was that it did not appear as if the girls knew they were guarded by werewolves. Who guarded them during the 3 day full moon cycle? They weren't being used as sex slaves or on blood farms by anyone, so why keep them alive and who was being used for those purposes?

Grim and Jillian were able to plant a few video cameras around the compound and hopefully they would provide more information on what the wolves would be doing with the girls and when. No one believed the girls would be allowed to leave alive, not all of them, so what purpose did they serve? Isabelle hoped they would figure it out before those girls were killed; only time would tell.

After the reports were given each couple retired for the night, knowing that time with their mates would be hard to find in the coming weeks and months and cherishing what time they had. It was almost two o'clock in the morning when they alarm sounded inside the castle; the night patrol had found something. Gabriel and the boys went to the forest to investigate, it was obvious the Hamilton's were being watched and it had started in the last week. Someone had even tried to enter their land without permission, with the wards that were in place Grim was laughing as he wondered if they recovered from that stupid decision yet. The protection in place around Hamilton land was legendary and fatal to some species and yet some creatures were foolish enough to try anyway. That was a lesson they generally only had to learn once. Gabriel was able to pick vampire and lycan scents, why are the vampires watching? With this knowledge he increased the night patrol and once everyone returned at least one of his sons would be put on patrol also with new orders. He wanted one of each type of spy captured alive, they needed more information.

As the men were in the forest, Isabelle and the girls were in the castle control room testing the wards around the land for weak spots. Three places were found where attempts had been made to break the wards. The person had not come close to breaking through but even the attempt had pissed the Keeper off. How dare someone think they could beat her magic! It had to have been one of the Brude's but from a distance, if he had been close to the clan he would have been sensed. Kate was sent into the castle catacombs to look for the oldest spells, the most ancient magic. The wards would have to be made lethal for anyone not bearing the Hamilton crest. Those spells were borderline black magic and not to be used lightly, but it was starting to look as if they would not have to go looking for the battle. If Isabelle's thoughts were right the battle would be coming to them and sooner than they thought.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters.**

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	10. Travels & Emmett

Chapter 9

Mid morning after the attempted breach saw the return of Heidi and Iris, their mates had stayed behind as ordered. Heidi reported to Isabelle first, "The Cullen's moved to Leeds 18 months ago and things have been quiet for them. Carlisle works in the local hospital and the younger vampires are attending the university. Nothing is suspected about any of them by the locals. They keep to themselves and there have not been any problems with the Cullen's or on their property. The search of the house did not turn up anything new. Some old identities where found in a safe but it appears as if they have been using the Cullen name since they left Forks. An inspection of everyone's passports showed that they have all traveled together except for Edward; he was on his own for a while. Emmett as not traveled internationally unless it was with the family. There is nothing to show that Emmett has committed of these crimes in Leeds. I did notice residual traces of magic in Leeds, just not at the Cullen house. I believe that the traveling spell and the memory wiping spell have been used regularly in the past 6 months and Haldor picked up a strong sense of 2 cloaked druids, females, around Leeds but it stopped 2 miles from the Cullen house. That is all to report."

"Thank you Heidi, it is much as I expected it to be" replied Isabelle. "Have Kate and Jillian fill you in on the attempted breaches in the wards and last night. Kate is retrieving the necessary spells to make the wards more lethal. As a Wiccan Witch I need you to do the protection ruins and blessings on the clan. Iris and Jillian can help with the individual tattooing of the clan members. With the exception of the children Gabriel and I would like for them to be permanent, but of course that decision will be left up to each member."

"Iris, what do you have to report?" asked Isabelle. "After leaving Forks the coven went north to the Denali Coven in Alaska for 6 months", Iris began. "This is the point where Edward splits off from them and goes to South America for 18 months, while the rest of the coven spent 18 months in Montreal. He traveled around, mostly in Brazil and Chile before he made his way to Isle Esme off the coast of Brazil to meet up with the rest of his coven. The entire coven is together for 2 months on Isle Esme and then they make the move to the United Kingdom. They live for 16 months on the outskirts of London until the Leeds Hospital requests Carlisle permanently; he had been doing a rotation there twice a month. That is when the coven makes the move to Leeds."

"The six months in Alaska looks to be recovery time from Forks and to have new identities made, which they have not used yet. The new identities have the surname of Stewart and are kept up to date so they are ready to use at a moments notice. The time in Montreal was used as a stop over for the UK move. Edward is mentioned in Montreal so he at least visited several times. His time in South America was harder to track. He was always on the move, as if he was searching for something. He didn't live anywhere and avoided contact with people. I was able to pick up impressions of him at different places in the jungles and larger cities but he never stayed any where long enough to leave a lasting effect." "Was he ever near the blood farms or lycans in South America," asked Isabelle. "No, not that I could pick up on, I will have a definite answer for you once I meet him. Then I can tell you for sure if I sensed him or not," answered Iris.

"OK, be sure to talk to Grim and Jillian, they observed the farms and the girls, see what impressions you get from them and if the 3 of you can come up with any new information," Isabelle told her. "Thank you Iris, please help the girls with the tattooing of the clan." Isabelle was off to find her husband, Soren and Ruth had returned earlier and she was very interested in what Emmett and Rosalie had been doing.

Upon entering Gabriel's office Isabelle realized that Soren was at the beginning of he and Ruth's tale. "They visited the Alaskan coven, who knew nothing of the blood farms and barely anything of the missing girls. Then they visited a coven in Ireland who again knew nothing of the farms but had heard about the missing girls because some American girls had been taken from a boarding school in England." Soren continued, "The Egyptian coven said they didn't know anything but were acting strange, almost as if they were in the middle of making a decision. It appeared as if the Cullen's trusted them but I am not so sure they should. Ruth agreed that they were hiding something and questioned their loyalty to the Cullen's."

At this point Ruth spoke up, "Things became interesting with the South American coven. They have heard a whispering of things happening, that a shift in power was getting ready to happen. They told the couple they had not heard anything concrete but the jungle seemed at once alive and void of life. Alive because there have been a lot of things coming and going, but dead because certain parts of the jungle now have no animal life in them. One female told them there was a part of the jungle animal and human alike avoided and when they went to investigate even the vampires were uneasy." Ruth turned to Isabelle before speaking, "It was a spell I could feel it and it is meant to keep people out. It is powerful, it made the hairs at the back of my neck stand up and Soren started to shake. We had to leave before we revealed ourselves to the Cullen's."

"We caught up with them on the way to Romania," Ruth stated, "There are definitely things happening in Romania and Siberia, although I am unsure how much Emmett and Rosalie actually picked up." This observation upset Isabelle, is it possible the Cullen's knew even less about the mythical world than they originally thought? Now was not the time to have to instruct a coven of vampires on what all was out there, they were part of this world they should know this. "Ruth, how are your people handling everything?" Isabelle questioned. "The Gypsies are taking all the precautions they can. It is werewolves that are doing the attacks in Romania and Siberia, the disturbing thing is that some are happening without the full moon. I am assured no lycans have been around so it makes me wonder if the werewolves have added a new level to the Lycan Clan that no one knows about yet. Why would they hide it and what exactly can they do?" Ruth answered.

Soren spoke again, "The last stop before they returned home was Stonehenge. There have been human and animal sacrifices there recently. The English have even increased security and it hasn't stopped. The guards are found in the morning, alive, but remembering nothing of the night before. After the Cullen's left to return to Leeds, Ruth and I tried to approach the stones at night and were unable to get within 100 feet of it. Any time we tried to get closer Ruth would scream, hold her head and start to convulse on the ground. Whatever was there is physically too much for her." "It is dark magic" Ruth interrupted, "Extremely dark magic; I am not sure any good that can sense it can get close to it without some protection around them. My guess is they are using it as a doorway."

"Soren find your brothers; have them explain what happened in the woods the other night and the new safety measures in place. Be sure to take your place in the rotation," Gabriel told his son. Isabelle dismissed Ruth telling her "Find Heidi, you will need to help with the protection spells of the clan members. With what you have felt be sure the ones they are using are strong enough."

Gabriel pulled his wife into his lap as they each thought about all they had learned this morning. Isabelle turned to him asking, "Does it seem to you that the Cullen's know much less about the world they live in than they should?"

"It appears that way", he started. "But when have they ever really needed to know any of this. Most of the coven is less than 100 years old and probably have not come across most of the clans. They live as a family and do not travel as much as nomads. Maybe this is something we should have expected." With that thought Gabriel kissed his wife and left her to her thinking.

Isabelle left the office and went to check on the interrogation rooms. The original plan had been to interrogate them lightly, not as forcefully as they would someone who was uncooperative. Now it looked as if they would have to probe deeper, to see if the information had never been there or if it had been erased. This process would be especially hard on the mind reader and the seer. The empath would have to be kept in a protected room so he would not have to feel them being probed. She did not want to have to go this route, she knew they once were very special to her. Isabelle said a silent prayer that her other sons would return with more concrete evidence about what was happening. She did not want to do to the Cullen's what she had done to others in interrogation. But if left with no other choice – she would.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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	11. Digby, Elisabeth & Intruders

Chapter 10

Sunset saw the return of Digby and Elisabeth and they were convinced they were being followed. Digby reported they had been trying to shake the followers for a day and had not been able to do it and that worried him. With his druid powers he should have been able to easily misdirect them and yet, he couldn't. After he realized he couldn't get rid of them, he and Elisabeth decided to make a run for Hamilton land and safety. Once they reported in an alert was sent throughout the clan, stay indoors where ever you are until the all clear is given. The wards around the buildings and homes will hold the intruders out, if you see anything call immediately, we want one of them alive.

Elisabeth reported to the family that one of them is definitely a werewolf; the other two are something else from the Lycan Clan, nothing she had encountered before. All 3 were males and about 2 hours behind her and Digby. Keldan, Iris and Elisabeth were pulled inside the castle to protect the children. As full vampires they were at the most risk from a werewolf bite which could kill them. Should one or all of the 3 get through they were also the best at close hand to hand combat, especially Elisabeth as she would be protecting one of her own children.

The all clear was given at midnight, to a point. The 3 followers were not attempting to cross onto Hamilton land. They were just watching and waiting. The odd thing was it looked as if the new hybrids were calling the shots; they needed to take one of them alive to find out what exactly they are. It went against every instinct the Executioners had to let the followers live and try to spy on the clan but they could not afford to have any one find out that they were aware of the things happening beyond the Cullen's.

The Hamilton's did everything possible to keep their location a secret, these 3 would not be permitted to leave alive. They also did not want this battle coming to their land but understood that a fight of some kind at home was becoming inevitable. Measures were being taken magically to enforce their protection, now they needed to take more human ones. Families were moved closer to the castle, no one went anywhere alone, everyone except the patrol stayed indoors after dark and there was no going in any part of the forest without a member of the laird's immediate family. While the 3 watched the clan make all these preparations they never noticed the one that moved into position to watch and trap them.

The rising of the sun saw the telling of Digby and Elizabeth's tale as they followed Alice and Jasper. As hoped they went to the other colleges and prep schools first, saving Tulane for last. At each of the colleges and schools, traces of Emmett's scent could be picked up around the sites the girls were taken from. This shocked Alice and Jasper; they knew Emmett had not been near these places. Digby was more surprised by the fact that the scent seemed muted. It was stale since it had been a while since the girls were taken but there was something mixed with it too. He also recognized werewolf and a scent that was faintly druid but not actually. He was hoping he could pinpoint the scent in New Orleans.

Elisabeth told them, "Carlisle was right to have them look into the type of girl taken. At each place all the girls had something in common. Also, they were either the top of their class or the best at what they did. At Sweet Briar it was molecular biologists, at Chatham athletics, at Fordham it was biochemistry and athletes, and at Wellesley it was animal and plant biologists. The girls taken from Tulane were studying medicine or tropical medicine, but perhaps the most troubling is that from the prep schools the girls all had a negative blood type and were virgins. The prep schools are the only places there was not one mass taking but the girls disappeared over several months, even though they all lived in the dorms."

"What makes the taking of virgins more troubling" continued Digby, "is what we discovered in New Orleans." "You were right", he said, "People in New Orleans did not want to deal with Alice and Jasper recognizing them immediately for what they are. In some instances they did not want to deal with me either, sensing the vampire. I was able to discover the source of the scent I didn't recognize. It is that of a Voodoo priestess. The druids are definitely getting help from the Voodoo priestesses."

This piece of information was the first thing Isabelle had heard that actually surprised her. "You are sure?" she asked. "Voodoo magic is very dark and unpredictable; no one likes to work with them." Digby nodded, "I am positive and I think the things that followed us with the unrecognizable scents are some type of Voodoo hybrid." Gabriel stood and looked at his sons, "We have to take one alive, we need to know what it is and what it can do."

Gabriel turned to his wife, "Is it possible that the leaders of the Lycans and Druids do not know what is happening with in their own clans? No, someone must know something or else they gave an order and didn't care how it was carried out." Isabelle thought for a moment, "I think we may have different groups within the clans stirring up trouble. The problem with that is if they do not know about each other who will be in charge when this is all finished?"

A small hawk suddenly flew in through the open window, circled Grim and when it fell to the floor a 10 year boy with green eyes looked at him and said, "Mother says it looks as if they will be making a move soon. She thinks at least one is going to leave to report back." With that said the boy shifted back to a hawk and went to rejoin his mother.

Isabelle turned to Elisabeth, "Call Catherine and Mary, they should be returning now, tell them what to look for in the intruders and to be prepared to capture one if necessary." Gabriel spoke to his boys, "Take up your positions and remember alive if possible." With a nod everyone left to do their duties. It was madness to try to attack Hamilton land and these 3 were about to be the lesson that reminded people of that fact.

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	12. Gotcha! & Mary

Chapter 11

Grim looked to the sky as he heard the hawks' cry. The two hawks were flying and circling the perimeter of Hamilton land but the falcon was soaring through the sky away from the castle. One of the intruders was making a run for it, he knew his wife would help Catherine and Mary capture the creature. If the man was smart we would not put up to much of a fight or he would find himself wishing he was the one left behind, the women could be scary and would feel as if they had a point to make. He turned to his father and brothers, "You know we need to take this one alive, if the one that is leaving attempts to fight you know what they will bring back don't you? Pieces, just pieces and those are impossible to get information out of." The men laughed as they waited to ambush the other two.

Catching the werewolf was easy, as they are never the brains of any operation. Catching the other one was trickier but still not a challenge. It became obvious that he had druid blood to some degree as he tried to pry into their minds. Ingram pushed back and was enraged by what he found. Whoever had sent them had not told them who they were watching, they were just to gather information nothing more and don't get caught – to late for that.

Once the prisoners were locked away Ingram told them what he saw in their minds. The Executioners were stunned. Gabriel spoke first, "This can only mean two things. Either we have done a better job of hiding our nature than I ever imagined, which I do not think is the case. Or they are expendable and only told enough to get them killed. In that case we will not be able to believe a thing we get from them. I am sure false information has been planted. It could be a combination of both"

Soren interrupted, "We do not hide our nature, in most cases we make sure the stories spread to cultivate the fear creatures feel for us. I agree we can not trust anything we learn from these two until we know the extent of their brainwashing." A falcon's cry sounded in the air, as the men made their way to the courtyard Grim asked, "OK before we open the door – dead or alive?"

The men laughed and said dead, of course. Isabelle and the other Guardians meet them at the door to courtyard and having heard the question she said. "In pieces but alive." As they made their way into the courtyard you could see each woman was carrying something up the hill. 'I told you" said Isabelle. Jillian held two arms, minus most of the fingers, Mary was carrying the legs but they were missing toes and it looked like a kneecap and Catherine was carrying the torso with the head still attached. They threw the pieces in front of the family and the man started mumbling something. On closer inspection his lips had literally been zippered shut so all he could do was mumble. Isabelle laughed and looked at Mary who shrugged her shoulders. "It was either that or rip his head off and I was worried that may kill him. He was saying vile things and would not shut up, so I took the choice to stop talking away from him." Mary said with a nod of her head.

Isabelle had them take the pieces to a medical room in the dungeons. "Tell the doctors to start the standard scans but wait for you and Kate to do dissecting on one of the limbs, put the others on ice to preserve them for further testing." she said to Ingram. "The missing fingers, toes and kneecap?" she asked the girls. This time Catherine answered, "We sent the standard message and questions to each of the clans with the pieces. I don't expect anyone to take credit for him but if one of them becomes outraged over our treatment of him that may give us a clue as to where he comes from."

"OK, lets go inside and hear your reports then." and with that said Isabelle led them back into the castle. "Mary, you can start, who did you trace and is there anything interesting?"

"Leif and I traced Alice & Jasper and Rosalie & Emmett." Mary started. "Emmett and Rosalie were easy. Carlisle changed them, Rosalie first as a potential mate for Edward, which was a no go. She found Emmett after a bear attack and asked Carlisle to change him as her mate. Generally they stay with or near the coven maybe going off on their own for 6 months every decade or so. Rosalie is a bitch and while people do not necessarily like her, I was unable to find anyone who truly hated her also. Emmet is a very fun loving vampire. He pulls a lot of pranks and that pisses some people off but he is also well liked by everyone we encountered. Neither of them has changed much from their human lives. Rosalie killed the men who attacked her but did not drink from them, she has never tasted human blood and while she hates being a vampire is proud of that fact. She was never implicated in the deaths of the men. Emmet has slipped and tasted human blood seven times since being a vampire, all but two of those were in his newborn year, one was sort of a singer to him and the last was when he was hunting and came across an injured man. In none of these was he or the Cullen's ever implicated by the law in the deaths. We could not find any reason or person who would want to harm them, especially directly."

"Alice and Jasper were harder to trace and more colorful. Alice was born in Mississippi to a wealthy family. She has always had visions and her family not knowing what to do with her had her committed. There was a vampire orderly who took a liking to Alice but never intended to turn her. Another vampire, James, wanted Alice so to keep James from getting her the orderly vampire turned her and then was killed by James. Alice has always had visions of Jasper and the Cullen's. She has never tasted human blood due to her visions of Carlisle's way of life. She meet Jasper in a café in Philadelphia and they set off to find the Cullen's."

"Jasper was born in Texas to a moderately wealthy family and has always been charismatic. He lied about his age to join the CSA and quickly became a Major in the Confederate Army. He was evacuating Galveston when 3 women approached him and Maria turned him into a vampire. With his military training he was exactly what she needed to lead and train her newborn army and he did that very well for over 50 years. He fed off humans, led her army, survived hundreds of attacks and made a lot of enemies before he escaped her. Before meeting Alice he traveled around, feeding off humans, he killed a werewolf in Russia and has met berserkers and druids. He is by far the most informed of the Cullen's, although I do not think he has shared all his information. After meeting Alice he followed her to the Cullen's and follows the vegetarian diet for her and not because he wants to himself. Having said that since living with the Cullen's he has not once tasted human blood and he does that for Alice. Jasper has a harsh reputation in the vampire world but that serves as a deterrent. The Lycan Clan does not seem to mind that he killed a werewolf. He didn't actively hunt it, he killed it in self defense and the lycan's attitude is the guy picked a fight he could never win so he deserved to die."

"I did notice that when you mention one of the Cullen's by name you get a different attitude then when you just mention the coven. When you say the Cullen's, people's reaction are all over the map but most are disgruntled. Some feel the Cullen's have it all; some feel they are posers, trying to pass for human. Others wonder why they want to interact with what should be their dinner and most vampires seem to hold some kind of fear of them because of their size and powers. The Lycan's seemed to be very informed about the Cullen's but we did not get a 'they must be destroyed vibe' from the ones we spoke with. I can understand why they make a good target, especially if you are trying to divide the clans."

"I expected the strong reaction to the whole coven," said Isabelle "And I agree it is what makes them the perfect point of friction. Let's take a break for dinner. This evening we can hear from Catherine and talk about any last minutes things before the Cullen's arrive."

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	13. Catherine & Duties

Chapter12

Dinner was a relaxed affair. They spent time catching up with each other and enjoying just being a family. They told some of the more amusing stories from their travel time. Such as Emmett's need to wrestle an anaconda, which would have been fine if it hadn't been mating season and he was attacking a female, the two males tracking her attacked Emmett, he did finally get loose with Rosalie's help. I am sure she won't let him live it down anytime soon. The funniest one was Alice in New Orleans running from a voodoo priestess, good thing she saw Jasper would need a fire extinguisher. Jasper had to sneak back into the city to steal the doll.

After the children were sent off to bed the adults stayed around the table to hear Catherine's report. "Michael and I traced Carlisle, Esme and Edward; I am starting with Esme because she is the easiest. She was married to an abusive man; she became pregnant and had the baby. He died and today it would be ruled SIDS, she was suffering from depression and attempted suicide. She was taken to the hospital Carlisle worked at, he recognized her as his mate and turned her. She has tasted human blood 5 times all in her newborn year and she was never suspected in any of the deaths. Since then she has not offended anyone. She is seen as a mother figure and definitely not a fighter."

"Edward came from a moderately wealthy family in Chicago and was dying from Spanish Influenza when he was turned. He was the first Carlisle turned and his mind reading abilities showed themselves immediately. About 10 years after Esme was turned Edward went off on his own; he was tired of Carlisle's way of life. He hunted humans for about 10 years. He only killed the scum of the human world but some vampires rejoiced in the fact that he was hunting humans at all and enjoyed rubbing Carlisle's face in it. Since returning to Carlisle he has not killed any humans. He has tasted human blood; Isabelle's to be exact in Phoenix after she was bit by a vampire named James. Edward sucked the venom out. Edward has offended people over the years, some female vampires for rebuffing their advances and some vampires for going back to Carlisle and turning his back on who he really is. The only person out for revenge is Victoria, James's mate, for the Cullen's killing him in Phoenix for attacking Bella. Victoria would be more than willing to be in on this. We do not feel she is one of the main ones behind this though. While she knows a lot of vampires and has an inkling of the other clans she doesn't have the clout to pull this off. I feel comfortable saying Edward is not the main target."

"Carlisle on the other hand, I think he would be shocked by way people feel about him. Even those he calls friends. He was born in the 1640's, the son of a preacher who was a tyrant. His father believed in 'creatures of the night' and hunted them; he pushed his son to do the same. Carlisle stumbled upon a coven of vampires and took off after one by himself. That vampire bit Carlisle and that is how he was turned. He has never tasted human blood, he tried to starve himself to death and started drinking animal blood by accident when half crazed he attacked a deer in the forest. He wandered around for decades before he found the Volturi. The three brothers found his diet odd but respected his ideals. Most of the Guard just found him odd and some were jealous of his close relationship with the brothers in such a short time. He spent about 50 years with the Volturi before going out on his own again. Except for the 3 brothers most of the other vampires were glad to see him go. His diet and how he felt about human life really bothered them. The vampires felt that because humans are weaker they are beneath them."

"He was alone for the next 150 years until he made Edward, then Esme, Rosalie and finally Emmett. During that time he studied medicine and led a quiet life. While he was with the Volturi he went through the catacombs so he at least knows of lycans, werewolves and druids. For some reason he never passed the information on to his coven and kept Edward's mind reading a secret. During the 40's they came across the shifters and at that point he explained about werewolves and how they were different. The 50's is when Alice and Jasper joined them and this made people take notice, especially when Jasper switched his diet. At first people were nervous because of who Jasper was and his obvious leading and fighting ability. However, when the size of the coven did not grow people went from fearful to envious and some even began thinking Jasper had lost his touch. A group of nomads feeling brave decided to band together to test the coven. They attacked the women while out hunting, all but 2 were destroyed. About 6 months later those 2 were brought before the Volturi for hunting to close to Volterra. Aro read their memories and understood immediately from their fight with the Cullen's exactly what powers they had and became very envious."

"Aro considers himself a collector and he really wants Edward and especially Alice. He has made it known to them several times he wants them to join and they always decline. At this point Aro feels that as long as they remain Cullen's his friendship with Carlisle puts them at his disposal. I don't think Aro or the brothers are directly responsible, he wants the powers that come with the Cullen's to much to risk them being destroyed. On the other hand he realizes the target the Cullen's have become. I agree with Mary it is remarkable the reaction just mentioning the Cullen name brings out in people. Be it good or bad the reaction is always interesting."

"Thank you Catherine," Isabelle said. "The only ones left to hear from are Thorne and Thunder. I actually do not expect them back until the Cullen's have already arrived. I also expect them to just be filling in the details of what happened and the lower level people involved. I think we all know who the masterminds are behind this and I also think in the end it may turn out that we were the ultimate targets. Now, let's move on to when the Cullen's arrive."

"As I said before, I told Carlisle I would explain my story when they arrived. I believe we are still on track for them to arrive tomorrow night, correct?" Isabelle questioned. Gabriel nodded, "The 3 are due in tonight from Volterra, the boys have orders to pick them up tomorrow morning and bring them here." "Good" Isabelle smiled, "After I explain everything we will examine their marks and remark Emmett."

"I think we can get by with just the normal scans and procedures on Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett. We were following them and I am sure picking up more than they were aware of. However, with Carlisle, Esme and Edward we will have to do the more in depth mind probes. Edward will need to be taught relaxation techniques so it is not more painful than necessary. With his mind reading he will already be very sensitive and we can not risk a break, he must be handled carefully. I am sure he will already be on edge, please boys do not make this any harder on him." Isabelle's sons all nodded.

Gabriel went to his wife and lifted her into his lap. He was confident in Isabelle's love for him and knew she would not want Edward hurting. He just hoped her compassion wouldn't give the boy ideas about trying anything with her. Gabriel knew killing him would put him the doghouse for probably a decade, she would expect Gabriel to be the bigger man because in her eyes he was the obvious choice for her. It went against ever fiber in his berserker/lycan body to let someone who hurt his mate cruelly in the same room as her, let alone talk to her and god help him touch her. The fact that he had to invite the boy onto his lands and protect him was insult enough. Gabriel decided to brush up on his own relaxation methods and he would talk to his sons and see which one was willing to take on their mother's wrath should Edward need to be taught a lesson.

"Now to discuss the things affecting the clan," Gabriel started. "We have tattooed all the members; even the children were given temporary ones. The wards on the homes and buildings have been increased. The people have been given a refresher course on the alarms and basic protection. They are prepared for the fact that the Cullen's will more than likely have to hunt at least once it the time they are here. I realize it is just 4 days but the tests can be brutal as you all know and we don't want to kill them. Keep that in mind when working with them, we want them alive and well at the end."

"We need to discuss the fact that part if not all of the battle will happen around Hamilton land," Gabriel stated. No member of the family liked this fact but all had accepted it as inevitable. He continued, "To protect us and the clan to the fullest, Kate has found the most ancient and powerful spells. Mary, Kate and Isabelle will cast these spells the second the Cullen's cross the border. As you know this will require using dark magic and I have agreed to it because it is necessary. To do the spells the women will require protection ruins tattooed on their backs, they will be large and permanent. I think to be on the safe side all of the adult family members should have, in case something arises they need our help with. The Escort will receive the new tattoos upon arrival, as will Thorne and Thunder. For now the standard ones they have will protect them to return to the castle. When the Cullen's arrive they will be given the ones the clan currently has to protect them. Are there any questions?"

"Good. The women will set up and walk a triangle formation to cast the spell. All clan members are to remain indoors. At the point of the triangle, near the forest, will be Kate with Ingram, Iris and Heidi as protectors. At the right side of the triangle, near the sea, will be Mary with Grim, Elisabeth and Ruth. On the left side of the triangle, near the gate, will be Isabelle with myself, Catherine and Digby as protectors. The others will greet the Cullen's and immediately start the tattoo process. When the spells are cast and the land is cleansed we will return to the castle."

With that Gabriel said good night to his family and carried his wife to their bedchamber. He needed to show her he loved her, he needed their scent together to be all over her, he needed to show Edward in every way possible that she was his. Edward needed to be shown at the start that she had been claimed by a man worthy of her and her love. Isabelle recognized his needs as they joined together even though she didn't understand his insecurities. He was literally her missing piece without him she was not whole; Edward could not threaten that in her mind. As they came together she offered him the thing he would never ask for but she knew would give him the most comfort. She screamed his name, let her fangs drop while withholding the venom and said "mark me". Then she gently bit into his neck and Gabriel allowed his canines to grow and gently marked her also, knowing that was a scent that would not wash off in the shower.

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	14. Returning

Chapter 13

As the Hamilton's were discussing strategy, the final 3 Cullen's were returning to England. As Carlisle, Esme and Edward entered the house it was approaching midnight. Carlisle spoke, "We do not have much time I am expecting them to come for us in the morning so let's get right down to business."

Rose and Emmett went first. Rose started, "We found most of the girls in the jungles of South America. It almost looked as if they were living in a rustic resort and it appears as if they have no idea the guards are werewolves. There were no blood farms and the girls we saw are not sex slaves; however we still were not able to figure out their purpose. I can't believe they will be allowed to leave alive so they must have some purpose to serve yet."

Emmett continued, "There have be disturbances in Romania and Siberia concerning the wolves and there have been sacrifices at Stonehenge. Even after they set up 24 hour guards the sacrifices have continued, the guards have been knocked out. The most interesting thing about the whole trip was the response we got from covens and nomads we met. Everyone we met had heard about the investigation and while they expressed sympathy, coming from most of them it was not even close to sincere. Wouldn't you agree Rose?"

"I do agree it was given in a way to say 'you are finally getting your comeuppance', it was the weirdest feeling." Rose continued, "Also, at times it felt as if someone was following us, although we couldn't catch them at it and when we returned to this house it had definitely been searched. They didn't really try to hide that fact that they did it."

That seemed to surprise everyone. "Who would do that?" asked Esme. "At this point that doesn't matter." stated Carlisle. "Be it the Guardians or the people framing Emmett, we have nothing to hide so there was nothing to find. When we are done here though I do suggest that we go through and make sure nothing was planted to incriminate us. Jasper, tell us what you and Alice found?"

"At each place we went there were traces of Emmett, just Emmett. Which is odd in itself but the scent was off somehow, almost as if it was stale. Also, the only places we could find his scent was where the girls were taken or had been. There was no random place it was found. It is as if he knew ahead of time, without scouting, exactly where the girls would be and to anyone with a brain that should scream planted evidence. There were other scents also, werewolf and something I couldn't recognize. You were right about New Orleans Carlisle; we ended up being run out by a Voodoo Priestess and were lucky to get out relatively unscathed." Jasper explained.

That comment had everyone raising an eyebrow but Jasper knew if he explained that story Alice would be dressing him in just pink for decades. He simply continued, "You were also right about looking into the types of girl taken. One college it was just athletes, another was molecular biology, girls studying tropical medicine, animal and plant biology, biochemistry and the girls from the prep schools are all virgins."

That last statement got everyone's attention, Carlisle spoke, "The biologist and what they could do concerns me. Are they trying to mix animal and plant DNA or human and animal DNA? And why the virgins to have a so-called 'pure blood' race? We will bring this up with the Guardians and let them sort out what it means. Now let's talk about Italy…" Jasper interrupted, "Before you get to that Carlisle I need to say I know for a fact Alice and I were followed. Alice could never see them clearly and when they would get to close her visions disappeared altogether. Except in New Orleans, there I got the feeling we were the ones operating behind them. Whatever they are they were accepted there."

"OK" Carlisle started, "Edward did you get the sense we were being followed because I did not." "No" Edward said, "I didn't sense anyone paying us attention until we arrived in Volterra. After that, yes I would say we garnered a lot of attention." Carlisle chuckled, "I know we did. Now about our trip."

"When we arrived we were greeted by the brothers and they are very surprised and bewildered by the charges. They also offered to help us in any way possible and that invitation did not come from many of the vampires there. I understand what you mean about the way people react to this situation. I was shocked by the way some of the ones I would consider friends reacted. Edward said he sensed almost glee in their thoughts, correct?" Edward nodded, "Yes, They aren't happy about the attention being brought on vampires but they do feel we are getting what we deserve for our freaky diet and thinking we are better than other vampires. The saying it couldn't happen to a nicer coven was going through most of their minds and not in a sincere way either."

"With that being said, we can't count on help from many in the vampire community" Carlisle spoke again. "I relayed my conversation with the Keeper and Overseer to the brothers, their memories of them have been affected also but not to the degree of mine. I asked about the oldest documents and histories and was given full access to the Volturi library. It is very extensive. As we started looking we found references to them immediately, disputes they had settled and wars they won or help win. Some of this predates the brothers, which puts them at much older than Gabriel said. I can't imagine he would lie about something like that but it is one more question to ask."

"Working backward thru history, in the 13th century they are mentioned along with Dante, Francis of Assisi and Marco Polo. In the 12th it is with Genghis Kahn, the Inca's, King Henry V and the Knights Templar. The 10th century, King Otto being crowned Holy Roman Emperor and England conquering Scotland for the first time and in the 5th century they are with King Arthur and St. Patrick. The First Century there is Claudius, Pompeii and the Christian persecution in Rome. Now we are entering into BC time period, in the

First Century it is Spartacus and King Herod, in the 3rd there is Carthage and the Iron Age. In the 10th century they are mentioned with the Ark of the Covenant, King David and King Solomon. The earliest there is a clear mention of them in the 13th century BC with Queen Nefertiti and the God Aten. Further back than this is either no language or cave drawings making no sense to any one."

"Also it is odd that going forward from the 13th century AD the references are very vague and hard to pin down to them. We did find one very interesting piece of information, it is in the most ancient of languages and credit is given to a fae seer. It is a prophecy." Carlisle read the prophecy: _In a time of great upheaval_

_When the veil between worlds is crumbling_

_One will be born to rebuild the walls and restore the balance._

_She will be the Keeper _

_She will come from the most ancient of bloodlines_

_A mix – vampire, lycan, fae, druid and berserker_

_With her mate (the Overseer) order and peace will prevail._

_Her fate is set – her mate is not_

_A choice to be made – _

_Some she will reject – some will reject her_

_One will reject and regret -- one will be chosen_

_She will be born of humans and much more than she appears_

_The process begins on her 18__th__ birthday but_

_She has always been special if one looks closely enough_

_The one who sees wins her love and conquers all._

"The note with the prophecy says that a copy was given to each of the clans so they could know she was coming" Carlisle continued. "The brothers had never heard of the prophecy. But given how they came to power, why would the Romanians tell them about it. We have to go on the assumption the other clans know about it, since she didn't choose one of them then we would make the perfect target to discredit her if they know about human Bella and Edward. There are more people involved and against us then we think, that is what we needed to find on our own."

Alice was the first to speak, "Edward is the one who rejected her and regrets it. Those years we thought she was searching for him, she was searching for her mate and didn't look for Edward because he had already been given his chance. Why didn't I see anything or any of us sense something from her about this?"

Edward spoke then, "The prophecy says it begins on her 18th birthday, my guess is had things been different we would have found out very soon about all of it. It explains some of the things she said in her sleep though. She would sleep fitfully and speak of vampires, fairies and werewolves. I thought she was just working things out in her mind and she never remembered them clearly in the morning."

He continued angrily, "If I had known this it would have changed so many things. I saw her clearly. She would be MINE now, not his."

"Edward, STOP THIS," shouted Carlisle. "We discussed this on the plane, she is not yours and even knowing about the prophecy it would not have changed any thing. I will not allow you to cause problems. You MUST get yourself under control before you see her."

A knocked at the door caused everyone to be quiet. "Is it time already?" questioned Esme. The door opened as the 4 highlanders entered. Michael spoke, "Actually we were going to give you a few more hours but with the turn the conversation was taking I felt it was necessary to alert you to our presence. You will not be allowed to cause problems Mr. Cullen," he stated looking at Edward. "I suggest your take that warning to heart, it is the only one we will give you." Looking at the entire group Michael said, "Gather your things we will wait by the cars."

As the Cullen's approached the cars they noticed Michael on the phone and the green eyed one from the first visit spoke to them. "I am Leif, my brothers are Michael on the phone, Keldan with the topaz eyes and Haldor with hazel eyes. We will be your escort to Hamilton Castle, we will not be stopping along the way. Everyone but Emmett may choose which car to ride in. Emmett needs to ride in my car since his mark is gone I can safely get him pass the wards."

As Michael shut his phone he turned to the group, "There have been some incidents in the last few days. We need to get home and the Cullen's to safety quickly. Everyone into a car and I will explain on the way." Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme rode in one car with Leif and Haldor. Alice, Jasper and Edward slid into the car with Michael and Keldan, as soon as the doors shut they sped off.

They drove in silence until mid-afternoon when the phone rang in Leif's car. It was Michael and on speakerphone he gave a general run down of what had been happening at the castle and the need to strengthen the wards. The Cullen's (in both cars) knew it was not good when the escort visibly tensed and had no idea what to think when the highlander's swords seemed to appear out of nowhere in between the front seats of the cars. Near Drumberg Carlisle noticed Leif reach back and take Emmett's hand as he said the same words as before and then the shimmer passed thru the car.

Leif and Michael explained the situation to their passengers. "After we pass thru the gates they need to strengthen the protection around the castle. The cars will continue to the castle, do not be alarmed by anything you see it will all be explained later. You will immediately go into the castle where your tattoos will be checked and reapplied if necessary. You will then be escorted to your suite of rooms. You must remain in the suite until someone comes for you. Do you understand? Everyone nodded they did.

When the car turned into the castle drive the wind picked up. Michael turned to Keldan and said, "It's starting." As the castle came into view Edward looked at the woman walking the wall above the gate. She was all he saw, the wind was causing her hair to whip around her face but he would know her anywhere, she was beautiful and all of the emotions he had been holding at bay came back.

Jasper doubled over in pain. Alice turned to Edward and said, "Don't do anything stupid." As the car raced on to the castle every fiber in Edward's body said MINE and he wanted to jump from the car and claim her as his mate. What he said as he turned to Alice was, "I have to get her back Alice, she is my life."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

**Please read & review. I need to know how I am doing!!!**


	15. Hamilton Castle

Chapter 14

Leif and Haldor could hear what was being said in the other car as well as the Cullen's. Leif spoke while still looking out windshield, "Carlisle, my mother is a very compassionate woman and has asked that we give Edward a certain amount of latitude expecting this to be very difficult for him. You need to understand that this goes against everything we are, especially those with berserker blood, such as Soren, Haldor and definitely my father. When a berserker mates it is as if two halves make one whole, they are more intertwined than you can ever imagine. When they are apart it is like missing a limb and having a phantom ache. This is all the more powerful for my parents because my mother is of the berserker bloodline also, one of only 3 women to be so throughout time. When the link between them is fully open one can tell you not only where in the world the other is but also how they are feeling, if one gets hurt the other immediately knows. When one of them shuts off the link the other knows things are dire because the mate is trying to protect them. I have seen it in action my entire life and it still baffles me. I have seen my father sit outside and look to a mountaintop a split second before my mother comes into view and I have been in meetings with my mother and visibly seen her body relax the second my father steps foot on Hamilton land, it is a very special bond. As compassionate as my mother is she knows it grates on my father to even invite Edward onto our land let alone protect him. I don't think any of you truly understand the dangerous ground he treads on when he makes comments like the one he just did. A berserker can only go against their nature for so long and it will become physically painful. With their bond this is not something my father can hide from my mother for long and I can tell you from experience she 100% will not tolerate anyone hurting her mate. I fear if Edward can't get his emotions under control and it becomes too painful for my father, she will kill Edward herself no hesitation and no mercy. When it comes to protecting a mate no mercy is ever shown, EVER."

The cars screeched to a stop in the castle courtyard, Michael and Leif grabbed their swords and get out. "Holy shit," Emmett yelled "Things are rising up out of the ground. What the hell is happening?"

Michael turned to the cars, "We have this get them inside now!" With that order given Haldor and Keldan opened the doors and escorted the Cullen's inside the castle. Once inside the keep they were greeted by a young man, maybe 15 years old. "Hello, I am Anthony, Leif's oldest son. I need to put the Hamilton Crest on you and then I will show you to your rooms." While the others looked on Anthony went up to them one at a time and placed his palm flat on their right bicep and murmured words they didn't understand. When he pulled his hand away the Hamilton Crest was imprinted on their bicep.

"How did you do that?" Jasper asked. "It's magic" replied Anthony, "Now if you will follow me to your rooms. Please stay inside the suite until someone comes for you. We do not want to have to lock you in and it is for your protection." Anthony opened the door and allowed them to pass in front of him saying, "Someone should be up to get you in a few hours, once everything is taken care of outside."

Anthony closed the door and went to tattoo the protection ruins on the Escorts so they could help clean up outside what had been awakened during the ward strengthening spell. As soon as the door closed Carlisle turned to Edward and asked, "Did you hear what Leif said just before we got to the castle?" Edward nodded. "I want your word Edward that you will behave. There are too many things we do not yet understand here. You can't approach her first and never on your own." Carlisle looked at Edward, who remained silent. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Carlisle all but shouted at him. "YES" Edward shouted back, "I understand but do you really believe she would allow them to kill me? Or that she is capable of killing me herself? Well, I can't believe it. I won't, she loves me."

With that statement Rosalie had reached her limit, "SHUT UP EDWARD. I am tired of going over this with you. Now, we all know I wasn't fond of her and did not want her to become one of us. That being said, she did love you Edward in ways you didn't love her. She was willingly to give up her life for you and I don't just mean her human life but her way of life. Her family, friends and any dreams she had for how she wanted her life to be. Had you not left and refused to change her, I have no doubt she would have stayed with you for her human life. She would have hated it but for you she would have done it."

"What do you mean she would have hated it?" asked Edward. Rosalie laughed, "For a mind reader you can be stupid. So you really think she would have enjoyed getting older next to an always young guy. Being called your mother, gray hair and then your grandmother? That would be humiliating for anyone and to pour salt into a wound, you would kill yourself after she dies rather than spend eternity with her. That had to be a big ego booster. So after you already have her believing she isn't enough for you, you leave her telling her she isn't and confirming all her fears. Do you really wonder why she never came looking for you?" "Not when you put it like that." Edward whispered.

"You threw this away Edward. You didn't trust she knew what she was getting herself into. You didn't think she loved you enough. You thought because you are a mind reader and other people her age act a certain way so would she. You never really saw the real Bella. So, because you couldn't read her mind you doubted her on every level, you took away her choice and made decisions for her based on what you wanted or how you would have handled things. You have heard the sayings 'actions have consequences' and 'you made your bed now lie in it' both of those are true in this situation. I will not sit by and let you destroy this family because you selfishly want something you set aside earlier. If you love her, prove it. Respect her decision not to come look for you, do NOT seek her out and keep your mouth shut until we have heard the whole story. If you can't do that I will have Emmett stick to you like glue and make sure you leave her alone!"

There was a knock on the door that took them all by surprise. Carlisle opened the door to Anthony, "The Executioners are ready for you please follow me to the solar." Jasper looked at Carlisle, "How did he get to the door without any of us knowing? And why can't I sense him?" Carlisle answered, "You will find when it comes to the Hamilton family none of the normal indicators apply. They are very good at what they do and apparently training starts very young." Anthony just smiled and said "Yes it does. Here you are, go on in and have a goodnight." Anthony walked away, the Cullen's each took a deep breath they didn't need and entered.

The solar was a beautiful sunroom with a table that sat 40. At the moment there were 9 men sitting at it, each with an empty seat next to them. Gabriel stood and walked to Carlisle, "Welcome back Carlisle. Let me introduce you to my sons. Starting with the oldest we have Michael and Leif, which you have already met. Then we have Soren, Digby, Grim, Haldor, whom you have also met and Ingram. Last at the table is Keldan, who was also one of the escorts. There are two more, Thorne and Thunder, but they have not returned to the castle yet. Please take a seat and introduce your coven."

The Cullen's sat and Carlisle introduced them, "This is my wife Esme, Rosalie and her husband Emmett, Jasper and his wife Alice and Edward." As Carlisle spoke Edward's name all eyes turned to him and he became visibly uncomfortable. The Hamilton's hoped he got the message not to start anything, when he couldn't keep eye contact with them they assumed he did.

Gabriel started the conversation, "The Guardians will be joining us soon. We captured an unknown hybrid the other day, they are checking on him and taking one last walk around the grounds to be sure everything is operating as it should. Let's go over some things while we wait for them. We realize you may need to hunt while here and have set that up for you. Even though you will be here for a few days the tests and scans are taxing, so please lets us know and we will show you the trails. I hope Carlisle has already told you the clan is very accepting, they are aware you are here so walk freely within the walled grounds. If the children become a bother, please let us know. They love the rainbows. I am sure you are wondering about the tattoo's we gave you? When we realized someone was trying to get into the castle walls we decided to strengthen the wards to a lethal setting. That was the ceremony that was happening as you drove in; the crest protects and allows you to go back and forth across the wards without any consequences."

Jasper leaned forward, "May I ask a question?" "Of course" Gabriel nodded. "What was coming out of the ground?" Jasper questioned. "You need to understand" Gabriel began, "the ceremony the Guardians were doing is ancient magic and can be very dark. What was happening was a cleansing of the land. To ward off evil we first had to be sure any evil inside the walls was taken care of. What was rising were evil things that had been buried for who knows how long, but they needed to be dealt with so they couldn't attack us from within. Some were: beasts, humans, lycans and vampires, they were killed and reburied outside of the clan lines."

Suddenly the french doors behind the men opened and in walked the Guardians. "Ahh, here they are" said Gabriel standing. "Let me introduce you to them as they sit by their mates. They are: Iris, Kate, Heidi, Jillian, Elisabeth, Ruth, Mary and Catherine. This lovely lady is my wife Isabelle." Gabriel offered his hand to her and you could see their tension release as they touched. Carlisle was used to it, the others didn't know what to make of it and Edward looked as if he wanted to leap over table. Jasper was actively trying to calm down Edward when Carlisle spoke, "Edward perhaps it would be best if you left?" That snapped him out of it, "No, I'll be fine. I apologize for my behavior."

Isabelle spoke then, "It is nice to see you all again, although I wish it could be under better circumstances. I am sure you have many questions for me and I will gladly answer them the best I can." She looked over at Gabriel, his eyes had gone ice blue and he was putting war braids in the front of his hair. He was staring at Edward who was staring at her. She hadn't been at the table for 20 minutes and they already needed a break. She knew this would not end well.

"But before we get to my story" Isabelle continued, "We need to check your marks and reapply Emmett's. If problems are found with anyone else's we will reapply them all. Mary and Kate will take you to the lab for this process. We will meet back here in two hours and then story time can begin." Mary and Kate exited with the Cullen's.

Isabelle took her husband's hand and said "Walk with me." They walked outside before she spoke again. "I know how hard this is for you, I can feel it. I appreciate the effort you are making to be civil about this. You need to start considering the fact that I will need to talk to him one on one to explain why I never sought him out after I knew the prophecy." Gabriel's head shot up and his back shivered. "Of course you will be there with me" she hurriedly said to calm him down. "Please remember I am yours. No one ever has or will touch me the way you do. You are my mate, my husband, my lover and my life. I searched 3 years for the one who was man enough to stand by me and worthy of my love. My search ended the day I saw you, never forget that. I chose you as you chose me – I love you cèile." "As I love you cèilean" Gabriel said "and I will try to expand my patience at the next meeting." "That is all I ask" she said.

"Now" Gabriel purred, "We have over an hour before we are due back. There is a lovely flower that glows in the moonlight in the center of the garden I have been waiting to show you." "I don't know my husband is a jealous man" she said shyly, "He wouldn't like me walking in the garden with another." "Then he shouldn't have left you alone." he said. "Besides I know your husband and I am pretty sure I can take him." She laughed as she ran into the garden, "If you can catch me you can show me this glowing flower."

Neither of them noticed that Edward had moved to the parapet of the castle. As he watched them together he started to see what Carlisle had been trying to tell him. For the first time he began to doubt that he could get her back and it hurt beyond belief.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

**Please read & review. Let me know what you think.**

**cèile is Gaelic for mate – male **

**cèilean is Gaelic for mate - female**


	16. Isabelle's Story

Chapter 15

The Hamilton's were already in the solar discussing the fact they had to reapply all the marks when the Cullen's entered and sat at the table. Isabelle looked around the table to stop conversation and said, "I suppose it is time for me to tell my story." She looked at her sons and their wives, "You are choosing to stay?" They all nodded yes. She turned to Carlisle, "My sons have never heard the entire story before so it will be new for them also. I am assuming you found the vampires copy of the prophecy while in Volterra?" "Yes" answered Carlisle, "and a few other things that just raised more questions." "I am sure you did. Let me tell the tale and if that doesn't answer your questions I will answer the ones you have left." she said.

"When I was 16 sixteen the dreams began. Dreams of supernatural creatures: vampires, witches, werewolves and others, I never understood them but I was never scared by them either. They were dreams of battles, of how the species came to be, how mates were found, essentially a history of the supernatural and how their world worked. The dreams continued when I moved to Forks. When I figured out Edward was a vampire I thought the dreams had stopped, but it turns out I just wasn't remembering them as vividly anymore. I had mentioned the dreams to Renee in the beginning and she started talking about past lives and spiritual journeys and her normal flaky stuff so I learned to keep them to myself not wanting to encourage her. I never told any one else about them, not even Edward."

"When Edward left I shut down completely. For the first week I was for the most part catatonic and there was talk of hospitalizing me. What snapped me out of it some what was when Charlie and Renee talked of a hospital in Florida. I was not going to leave Forks, it was my last link to Edward and I held on with everything I had. So I started eating, going to school and trying to function again. After a few weeks of this I became determined to find the meadow, to convince myself that it was real and not just another vivid dream. On a rare sunny day I found the meadow and my two guardians."

"Just as with any other supernatural creature I had encountered I was curious but not frightened. They explained they had been watching me my entire life waiting for this moment. They were Tuatha De Danann or Fae; they explained the prophecy to me and the fact that I was the Keeper. They explained the bloodlines I come from: vampire, lycan, berserker, druid and fae, while most hybrids have a dominant one I would be able to draw from the strength of all. Charlie and Renee had been destined to be my parents before man even walked the earth because of the bloodlines they would combine and the power it would give the Keeper. When Edward and I were together they thought I had found my mate early and prepared to explain everything on my 18th birthday, the earliest they were allowed. But the party happened and Edward left before they could. It became clear he would be the one to reject and then regret that decision."

"They gave me a task to complete. I had to find my mate by my 21st birthday or the fae part of me would take over and while I would be able to have relationships a true mating bond would be lost to me forever. They suggested cities and countries I should search first and said they would return either when I had found him or on my 21st birthday, whichever came first. At that point they would explain the rest of the prophecy."

"It was months before I left Forks. I refused to not graduate high school so I did what was needed to graduate early. I also used that time to decide if I was going to try to find Edward or not and while I am sure you are all interested in the answer to that question. I feel he should hear it first, so Edward we can talk later in private and then it will be up to you who you want to tell everyone. Then I put together a very rough search pattern to follow. I knew from talking to Carlisle and Jasper what waited in the southern states so I decided to skip them altogether."

"First was South America, especially Brazil where I ran into an interesting shaman but I couldn't live in the jungle and he could never leave it, we remain friends to this day. Next was Africa and Australia, I met some interesting people but the supernatural creatures I met were very dark and not for me. Egypt was nice, they have a rich history and there was a shifter nomad named Benjamin but he chose early on to remain unmated. Now we are right before my 19th birthday so I flew back to Forks to see Charlie. I was there a few days then started on the northern hemisphere in Vancouver where I met my first true lycan, not a werewolf. By the time he was on his third rant about how could he feel an imprint pull to a lowly human I was done with his issues and told him to fuck off. He found my backbone stimulating I guess would be the polite way to put it, I found his change in attitude disgusting and traveled on to Russia."

"In Russia and Romania I found bands of Gypsy's, they were great and the first to sense there was something special about me. I stayed with them for several months and learned a lot about the different clans and how they interacted with each other. The old fortuneteller was the one to tell me I would find what I was looking for in the United Kingdom. I went to London first in early summer and encountered druids. They were pompous assholes who felt humans were beneath them. I really enjoyed going back later and reminding them they were still human."

"From there I went to Scotland, Edinburgh first and that area is a hotbed of supernatural things good and bad. It would have been easy to get sucked into something there. Being in Scotland was the first time I felt edgy. It is hard to explain, traveling to the other places felt very mundane but the moment I stepped off the plane in Edinburgh I knew I was the closest to him I had ever been. It just felt right to keep traveling north. It felt as if I was finally running towards something. While traveling north I had heard the legend of the berserkers, Odin's chosen warriors, but had never met one until 3 days before my 20th birthday. I was actually starting to get discouraged because I was almost to the extreme northern tip of Scotland. Not to long after I passed Drumbeg my body relaxed, it was the feeling you get after arriving home from a long trip and I couldn't explain it. About 30 seconds later a tire blew out on the car I was driving and I was stuck on the side of the road at dusk and the fog was rolling in."

She turned to look at Gabriel, "I was getting comfortable for the night, in the car, knowing I could never walk back to town in the dark when someone tapped on the window scaring the crap out of me, but when I turned to see who it was my mind and body relaxed as if I had known him forever. When he took my hand to help me out of the car is when I felt it, everything shifted like puzzle pieces falling into place and I had finally found the piece that completed me. I looked in his eyes and without even knowing his name said 'I finally found you' and he replied 'no lass I found you, welcome home'. And the rest as they say is history."

At this point Gabriel interrupted saying, "I can tell you that I felt her as soon as she stepped onto Scottish soil. I did not know what it was at the time but later we figured out that's what it was. I had a sense of foreboding that I didn't understand but as a berserker knew to take seriously. As the days passed and nothing happened the feeling intensified and put me on edge. About the time she had her blow out is when I hit the limit on my patience and waiting. I knew something was wrong, someone important to me was in danger and I left to solve the mystery. The second I saw her I knew she was for me and I would have no other. I brought her back to Hamilton Castle to meet the clan. They recognized our bond immediately and 3 days later on her 20th birthday the entire clan witnessed our berserker mating ceremony."

"I have reached the point where the guardians return to explain the rest of the prophecy. Do you have any questions so far Carlisle?" "Not yet" he responded, "most of my questions are from after this point." "OK" then I am ready to continue, Isabelle said.

"Within a week of the mating ceremony the guardians returned to explain what they could to us. Gabriel took everything in stride; I think that is because they are taught the berserker legends almost from birth and this made the prophecy easy to absorb. They explained that a battle was coming that would pit the clans against each other and in order to be able to recognize it we would need to study how the different clans operated. They explained the different classes within each clan and the powers traditionally associated with each clan. They explained that as an extremely rare female with berserker blood I would still have the traditional abilities but without the eyes or experiencing berserkergang. They also explained what being of the fae bloodline would mean and which of those abilities I would be able to use. I am only going to explain one of them to you and that is sifting. Think of time as the sand in an hourglass and you can sift through the sand and chose a specific grain. That is sifting; I can sift through time and place myself at a certain place in time. That is how I can be close to 3,000 years old and have it only be 5 years since you last saw me. After the guardians left Gabriel and I sifted through time to learn what we needed to know."

"Because we sift a lot we don't keep track of age by the normal chronological way from one year to the next. For age purposes we keep separate calendars' without taking the current year into consideration. We first sifted back to the 15th century BC; this is during a time when Brude's held most of the control. The Egyptian priest Imotep and others could control the dead and bring people back to life, these are not just stories. Michael was actually born in 1340 BC and is a lycan/vampire hybrid. Skip ahead to the 10th century during the time of King David, the Ark of the Covenant and King Solomon this is the start of Judaism and the Brude's go into a form of open hiding. They still have some control but not as openly. Leif was born in 975 BC and is a lycan/druid hybrid. Sometimes we would spend decades or maybe a century or two in one place. It all came down to what we were trying to learn. We have sifted back to before man was on earth but that has nothing to do with this, that was more for fun and to teach the boys to hunt and survive in the wild. Right boys?" Isabelle said chuckling. They looked down, nodded their heads and a few of them muttered "lesson learned the hard way".

"The next major stop is the 2nd century BC, the start of the Iron Age and Carthage. The Iron Age is essential for anyone wanting to understand weapon making. Mythical creatures do not fight using modern weapons; you can't and remain a mystery to humanity so it is important to understand less conventional ones. Soren was born in 200 BC; he is full berserker and will be the next Laird of the Hamilton Clan when Gabriel steps down. In the 1st century BC it was Spartacus, who was a lycan, King Herod and the birth of Christ. At this time Brude women are thought to be extinct and the males start mating with human females, the offspring are called Druids. Digby was born in 75 BC and is a druid/vampire hybrid. From here on everything is AD, in the 1st century there is Claudius, Buddhism and the persecution of Christians in Rome. Lycans serve as Roman soldiers in order to gain knowledge of warfare strategy. Grim was born in 25 AD and is a full lycan."

In the 5th century we run into King Arthur, Merlin and St. Patrick in Ireland. Real magic reaches its peak here and the druids have a positive influence. The vampires and werewolves start to remain hidden and become careful about hiding their kills. Lycans can still be in the open but not as much as they start to stand out from normal humans. Haldor is born in 490 and is a vampire/berserker hybrid. In the 10th century the known world is at war. England invades Scotland, France wants England and the Roman Empire is starting to crumble. The Druids are stirring up trouble with the Brude's and this catches the attention of the Fae, who so far have just been watching what happens. Ingram is born in 950 and is a druid/berserker hybrid. In the 12th century you have Genghis Kahn, the Knights Templar and the Inca's. Technology and warfare again make a vast leap thru the Inca's. The Inca's are actually the remaining Brude's and druids. The Fae step in and banish the 12 Brude's to the underworld before they can advance things to drastically. Keldan is born in 1180 and is a full druid. However in the 1500's on a mission in Mexico for the Volturi he is bitten by a vampire. Being a druid he is almost completely human so the bite causes him to change. Now he is a full vampire that retained some of his druid abilities."

"The last stop is in the 13th century with Marco Polo, Dante and Francis of Assisi. This is the point we decided to live forward from. This is when we became the Guardians and the Executioners and began working with the Clans to keep the peace. This is also how we were able to mark each of you as you were changing. The twins, Thorne and Thunder, were born in 1250 and they are vampire/fae hybrids. We did skip over my 20 human years because it is never a good idea to inhabit the same space for too long. We have sifted back and forth for specific missions but that is it. Does that answer all of your questions Carlisle?"

"That answers most of them. The one I still have to ask is, why do you not remember clearly and why do you call them the missing years?" Carlisle asked. "When the guardians returned to explain to Gabriel and me they also gave us the instructions to a ceremony we needed to perform to bring forth my berserker tendencies to strengthen our bond. The ceremony is deeply personal and I will not explain about it. One of the side effects of the ceremony is the fading of the memories of the search for a mate. I was given a choice; they were willing to restore all of my memories or do the ceremony and see what happens. I chose to see what happens because not everything that happened during that search was pleasant. It isn't that I don't remember but some memories are very vague and there are no strong emotions associated with them. It is like viewing them from a distance."

Isabelle continued, "I call them the missing years because that is the period of my life I was missing part of myself. I could feel the hole inside me and it was not filled until I met Gabriel and he completed me. I think that is a good place to stop. The clan will be starting for the day soon and the Cullen's need to hunt before we start the scans later today."

"Grim please raise the flag above the keep that lets the clan know the Cullen's are hunting in the forest." Isabelle turned to Carlisle, "Michael, Keldan and Digby will be showing you the area to hunt in. We can meet back here this afternoon and go over what will be happening the next few days. Have a good hunt."

As the Hamilton's were leaving the room Carlisle spoke to his family, "She is right we need to hunt. After we return to the suite we can discuss her story and see if any questions still remain. Let's go."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

**Please read & review. Enjoy !!**


	17. Hunting, Eavesdropping & Tests

Chapter 16

"Damn, did you see the size of that bear?" Emmett yelled as the Cullen's returned from their hunt. "I didn't think Scotland had bears." "They are not indigenous to Scotland. The size of the wolves and deer also is larger than normal. Did the blood taste richer to anyone else?" Carlisle questioned. Everyone nodded and Jasper answered, "Yes, it seemed to fill me up faster and was more fulfilling than at home."

"I agree" Carlisle said, "That is a question we will need to ask. Do any of you have questions about Isabelle's story that we need to discuss?" "It was good to see her again." Esme slowly started looking at Edward from the corner of her eye. "She seems to be very happy with her family and 10 sons that is amazing. I can understand why she would take the chance that her memories before finding her husband would be erased. I am glad that most of my human memories of my first husband have faded."

"I still don't understand why I didn't see more." Alice said, "I got snippets over the years but if she was still human I should have gotten more, especially when I started actively looking for her." Edward asked, "Alice where was she when you got visions of her?" "Well after hearing where she traveled, several in Brazil, Vancouver, London and Scotland. The ones in Scotland are after she met Gabriel I think, she was very happy." Alice replied.

"I think I may have an answer as to why you got all of them except the ones in Scotland. When I was away Brazil is the place I spent the most time in and there were several times I could have sworn I picked up her scent. But this was in the middle of the jungle and I thought by that time I had truly lost it. There was no way she could be in the jungle was my thinking and after smelling her for the fifth time I decided it was time to move on. Several months later I was in Vancouver and I saw her twice in two weeks, but being so close to Seattle I didn't think anything of it and that is when I came to join the rest of you in London. The family wasn't here yet and I thought I caught a glimpse of her at Heathrow boarding a plane but wasn't sure, it didn't make sense for her to be there. I think you were picking up on me Alice and seeing her because I was. I don't know about the ones in Scotland, I never went there." Edward stopped talking and looked up at his family's shocked faces.

"Let me get this straight," Alice began. "You had either seen or smelled her in 3 different places she shouldn't have been for months and months after you left and you didn't think this was maybe fate's way of giving you a second chance? I agree with Rose you made your bed and now you are going to lay in it Edward. You had several chances to make her yours and ignored them. She is happy now, leave her alone. The 17 year old boy in you is jealous that someone else has claimed her and that is not a good enough reason to stir up this mess Edward. If not for the current circumstances you would not have sought her out, you and I both know it Edward. You got exactly what you said you wanted when we left, she moved on, married and had a family. Admit this Edward and then let it go. They will only give you so many chances and I do not need a vision to tell me you are about out of them."

Edward agreed with Alice but had a hard time admitting it, even to himself. What he said was, "I can see how happy she is, I am not blind to that. And yes, a part of me is a jealous 17 year old boy but I guess most of me is angry. Angry at myself because I realize I brought this on, angry at Gabriel because he obviously knows her in ways I never did or could and I don't just mean intimately. Angry at Bella for not seeking me out once this happened and giving me a chance and just angry in general for things I can not control or go back and change. Also I am scared. I am starting to see I have lost her but I have to be in her life in some way, even if she only offers friendship. To lose her completely, the thought alone is more painful than anything I have experienced so far and that is saying something. I am scared to talk to her, scared I won't control myself and she will be forced to put me out of her life forever."

"We do understand Edward," Carlisle said softly, "I am glad to see you are finally looking at this rationally. I think from this point the best idea is to take your cues from her. When she asks to talk to you do so with an open mind and try to understand her perspective. Find out what if anything she can offer you going forward and understand her husband, he will not want you anywhere near her. Learn to be happy with what she can give you, instead of wallowing over what can never be."

A sharp knock sounded on the door. Emmett jumped, "I hate that they can do that. Does that freak anyone out? I can't even remember the last time someone surprised me before coming here." "You!" Jasper said, "I am use to feeling someone before they are close enough to surprise me, so yeah it freaks me out. What about you Edward can you hear them?" "No I am unable to hear them and it is very unsettling" Edward replied, "But at the same time it is kind of nice to be surprised once in a while or it would be if the circumstances where different."

Carlisle opened the door to see Anthony standing there, "They would like to see you again in the solar to explain the tests you will be undergoing today. Follow me." The Cullen's could hear raised voices and they were still half way across the castle. A female said, "I don't like that they are pushing on the protection walls. They are looking for a place to force themselves in and they are so arrogant about it. If they would stop to feel the magic they would know it is impossible and that pisses me off. They assume inferiority because we are women." "I know" Isabelle said, "It is time to find out how much the lycans know. The werewolf died in interrogation?" There was a pause, someone answered without speaking. "Cut off his brand and send hair samples to them for identification purposes. Also send one of the frozen limbs we have from the hybrid with a message demanding to tell us what they are breeding. Let them know exactly what we think of them spying on us and what happens to those caught doing so. Be sure they understand we always catch them, sending others would be a stupid and hostile move. Almost an act of war, is that what they want?" Gabriel interrupted, "Take a breath `nam gràdh. Soren, Grim and Leif do as your mother has ordered and remember this is meant to be a warning not a normal visit, war braids and fully armored."

Isabelle spoke again, "They are bringing this fight to us and I don't like being on defense. I was hoping this wouldn't happen until the Cullen's left. But then I suppose the safest place for them would be here." A male spoke, "I think we need to prepare the stone dance and the rings for use, if not for travel that at least for the protection of the clan." "I agree" Isabelle and Gabriel said together. "Be sure each clan member knows where to go if the bells are rung." Gabriel continued. "Ready the ring by the waterfall also but the clan is not to go there. I have another use for that in mind." Isabelle stated.

As they Cullen's approached the door they were more than a little nervous about the easy way war was being spoken about, the dead werewolf and what was that part about limbs. Suddenly the door opened, the 3 highland warriors walked out in full armor and their war braids causing the Cullen's to instinctively back up. As they high fived each other Soren said to Leif and Grim, "this is going to be fun." Leif and Grim laughed saying, "Hell yeah it is." Leif turned and looked at his brothers slyly then took off running and yelled "I'm taking the red claymore." "Oh no you don't" the other two shouted as they chased after him to pick weapons. As they Cullen's entered the room they saw Isabelle sitting on Gabriel's lap as she whispered, "Those are your sons, the war mongers, my sons would never act that way." Running his enlarged canines along her jaw he replied, "I thought you like being this war monger's prize?" "Mmmmm," she hummed biting his ear, "that I do. I like when the savage comes out to play."

Carlisle cleared his throat to gain the rooms attention. Isabelle stood saying, "I hope you had a good hunt. Now let me explain what is going to happen today and prepare you for that. We will start by taking venom, hair and skin tissue samples from each of you. Catherine, Michael's mate, is full lycan and will be able to get the skin sample the easiest. You will be restrained during this process but Michael will also be present for his own piece of mind during the retrieval. Your instinct will be to fight once she switches to her lycan form that is the reason for the restraints and Michael. We will also perform a full MRI and several types of full body scans and pictures at this time. If you prefer a same sex examiner at this time that is fine. Haldor or Keldan can do the men and Elisabeth or Iris can do the women, they all have medical training and are fully qualified to do this. Also if you want your mate present that is fine, except for the MRI then they can be in the control room. These tests can be very distressful, so if you need to hunt again after them please let us know and we will arrange it."

Isabelle turned to Jasper, Alice and Edward speaking, "Digby, Ingram and Heidi are going to teach you 3 relaxation exercises. After the tests come the mind scans and probe. The 3 of you will be extremely susceptible to these and if they are not done carefully they can cause harm. Because of this they will show you how to clear your mind as much as possible and just go with the probe instead of fighting it, which will be your natural reaction. We will be very careful with you and while only one person will be scanning there will always be someone else in the room monitoring you and prepared to stop the scan at any sign of distress. Please believe me when I say we do not mean you any harm."

She turned to Carlisle saying, "You coven will be the only ones able to boast of that fact." When she saw the question on his faced she explained, "No other creature has entered or exited our dungeons and been able to say that we didn't mean any harm to them."

"You need to understand," she continued, "the mind scans are going to pick through your mind, every memory, conversation and thought will be examined. We are looking to see if things have been removed or altered in your memories. There are certain things we are shocked you do not know more about and I will not tell you what they are yet. We need to know if you never knew them or if that memory was removed. For Alice her visions will be examined also to see if any have been planted or altered. With Edward being a mind reader we expect his to take the longest and will probably have to be done in several sessions. He should have the most memories, even though Carlisle and Jasper are older. We will stop so he can hunt or rest as needed. Please do not be afraid, embarrassed or ashamed to ask for a break. Yes we will be monitoring you but understand we never give people breaks. A break allows you to regroup and any other time we have done this the idea was to break the persons mind completely so we could get the information we needed. You know your mind and body, pay attention to it and tell us when to take a break. This type of exam goes against everything we do here."

"We have also set up a special room for Edward, Alice and Jasper to be in whenever someone is being scanned. It is soundproof and it will essentially lock down your powers. No visions, mind reading or emotion feeling allowed, this is for your benefit, to keep you relaxed and not worrying about what is going on with the others. The others are allowed in the room with you but when the scanning is being done you 3 are required to be in the room. Any questions?"

"No questions about the procedures, "Carlisle began "But I do have a question about hunting." Isabelle nodded for him to continue. "We noticed you have animals that are not native to Scotland." Isabelle laughed, "Like the bears, big cats and large mountain rams?" Carlisle nodded. "Well, of course you would know that the larger the predator the more the satisfying meal." She said looking at the Cullen's. "When you have as many lycans and vampires as we do you need a larger animal population to support them. First we went and caught the animals we needed and set up a type of preserve on Hamilton land. Then we went back and collected animals with older more primal DNA and began our breeding program. We breed the animals for certain qualities one of which is the richness of their blood so we don't have to hunt as often. Some of the kills are left in the forest to support local wildlife but the rest are brought back and the clan uses them for the pelts, meat and any other use they can find. As far north as we are not many of them have jobs where they leave to go to work. Most of them have internet jobs or ones they can work from home; we try to be as self sustaining as possible."

"Any other questions?" she asked looking at the Cullen's. They shook their heads no. "OK then" she continued, "it will take about an hour to set everything up for the tests please feel free to explore the castle itself or the grounds. It is sunny outside so the children would love to see you in it. If they start to make you uncomfortable just let someone know and we will try to reign them in. Anthony and his cousins I am sure will try to get you to do something with them and that is fine. Remind him though that if it is a contact sport everyone has to wear the mouth gear, bites or any kind of venom exchange can be deadly to them and to you." As everyone rose to leave the room Isabelle called out to Edward, "Is now good time for us to talk?" He turned and nodded. "Then let's go to the family balcony, I think the 3 of us will be more comfortable there."


	18. Explaining to Edward

Chapter17

In some ways Edward had not felt this good in years, he was walking beside Bella and in other ways he had never hurt so much in his existence because her husband was on her other side holding her hand. As they passed into the family wing of the castle Edward took in his surroundings. None of the Cullen's had been in this wing yet. While the rest of the castle was businesslike and almost clinical, here was obviously were they lived. There were signs of children of different ages, a game room and lots of pictures but what drew his attention was the life size portrait on the wall. It was of Isabelle and Gabriel on their wedding day and she looked stunning. For a split second he imagined himself in Gabriel's place and what he saw almost made him smile until he remembered the reality standing beside him.

The family balcony was actually more of an indoor greenhouse, in was full of hanging plants and cactus. Edward looked around and thought Bella had done a good job of combining the 2 places she had spent time as a human into a place she could enjoy in eternity. There was a small sitting area with 2 chairs a table and a loveseat. Edward sat in one of the chairs and was surprised when Bella sat in the other chair next to him. Gabriel walked to her kissed her on the head and told her he would be in the greenhouse if she needed him.

Edward started to speak. "Please let me go first," Isabelle interrupted. "Gabriel will not interrupt us unless I feel threatened at any time. We really are trying to make this easier on you Edward and I knew you would want the most privacy we could have." Edward nodded, "I understand and deeply appreciate the privacy given us. The last two weeks it has been hard to process everything and that is with a vampire mind. I am trying to keep my distance and not upset your family and believe me I understand their adoration of and loyalty to you. I do have questions but even when I have the answers I am not sure that will change the way I feel for you. Can you understand that?"

"I do understand Edward. Why don't I just tell you what happened and what my thinking was and then you can ask your questions?" Edward nodded for her to continue. "When you left Edward, I ceased to exist. I literally curled up in a ball and waited to die because my mind couldn't process a life without you. Everything that made me Bella you took with you when you left."

"After I met my guardians in the meadow and they explained everything to me including the prophecy. I came to realize that you lied in the forest that day. And that you were the one who would reject me but regret it. I know you did it to protect me but to be honest my first reaction was an unbelievable amount of anger. I was mad at myself for believing you and I was angry at you for not trusting me enough to stay. I spent the months before leaving mainly deciding if I would look for you first, where to do that and if not you where else do I go first. I also spent quite some time thinking about when we were together. I never doubted that you loved me but I did come to realize that you doubted my love for you. To my thinking you doubted almost everything about me because I was human and you couldn't read my mind to see if I was telling the truth and to be honest when I realized that, I was extremely hurt. Faith and trust are a large part of any relationship and I had that in you. I had faith in and trusted you to love me, keep me safe despite myself and to never hurt me intentionally. I always recognized the potential to harm me by accident but until the forest I never would have thought you could do it on purpose. You however never had enough faith in me, because of my humanity I think you thought what I felt could be fleeting. Because of how others think and your ability to see the thoughts behind the actions, you saw how petty and flighty humans can be and just assumed I was the same. You never came close to giving me enough credit."

"No, it wasn't like that," Edward started. "Please let me get through this," Isabelle said. "I am going to give you a lot to think about before this conversation is over. So please, let me finish everything I need to say and then I would honestly like you to think about everything before you say anything. OK?" Edward nodded once again, "I'll try."

"Anyway, you didn't trust me to know what I was giving up. You thought I couldn't see passed the fact that I wanted to be with you forever. I understand I often put others before myself and that you always saw that as a weakness. Knowing that about me, on some level you should have realized that I would have thought long and hard about what I was giving up. I was giving up my friends and family permanently. I would never see my mother or father again. I was giving up my friendship with Jake and any dreams of what I wanted to be and do when I got older. Of course I weighed the pros and cons and I made a conscious informed decision to be with you."

"You made the decision to ignore not only what you knew about me but also what I wanted. That fact is what made me decide to not actively search for you. I went with the assumption that while you didn't know what your leaving would do to me, you did know what it would be like for you. I decided to abide by your decision. I would not actively seek you out. If we were meant to be then fate would put us together again in my search for my mate. If in my search I found you again then we could put everything else behind us and move on from that moment knowing it was right."

"The odd thing is there were several times I was sure you were close. In Brazil I was positive I came across your scent a couple of times and I allowed myself to think of us together again. But then I never actually saw you so I let it go. I did see you in Vancouver once and I know you saw me. You were walking towards me and I saw the moment you recognized me. Then you crossed the street to avoid me and that is when I started to give up hope that you could want me too. Seeing you in Heathrow and having you walk away again was just the last nail in the coffin so to speak. That was when I decided to fully give my heart over to the search and realized that sometimes love alone is not enough."

"It was a few weeks later that I found Gabriel. He truly is my missing piece. I am sure you don't want to hear this but I do love him with everything I have and everything I am. He accepted me as I was a clumsy human even though he was not human. He immediately put his faith and trust in me as I did him and we never looked back. We have always been equals in his mind, even before we heard about the prophecy. Once we had heard about it he could have turned me out, that was his right until the mating ceremony. He accepted the challenge of the prophecy and I put my trust in him to know what he was getting himself into and to stand beside me no matter what comes after us. He has never let me down Edward."

"I do not regret the way things happened with us Edward. In some ways you taught how to really love and when you left I realized I was stronger than I ever thought. That strength and perseverance have gotten me through some dark times and brought me home to my family. I do care about you Edward, as I do your family, but I am unsure as to what exactly you want to happen from here. I LOVE Gabriel. The bond we have is unbreakable. As much as it hurt when you left me, to be without him would kill me literally. Because of our berserker bond if something were to happen to him when his soul left his body it would take part of mine with it, that is how intertwined we are. It is impossible to explain. You need to know I will never leave him, never."

"I am beginning to understand that," Edward murmured. "You will also need to get use to the fact that I can now hear things that I couldn't as a human" Isabelle laughed. "Perhaps I should also warn you that as a druid I have the ability to know what you are thinking."

"You can read my mind" Edward yelled, he didn't like that one bit. "Not exactly, it is what we call deep listening. I can do it when I want, it isn't a constant thing like yours is. It is a learned skill, not all druids can do it but my druid sons can and you will need to remember that also." Isabelle explained.

"My family has been telling me that I have to live with the consequences of my actions 5 years ago and I am finally starting to realize that." Edward explained. "I am sorry for the pain I caused you. I never expected you to believe me so easily and it hurt me that you did. I will have to think about the other things you said about our relationship. Some things I recognize but others I just don't know about yet. I also see that fate tried several times to bring us together and at every turn my actions kept us apart. You are right that I didn't think you understood what you were asking for and if I had approached you any of times I saw you things could be different for us. That I think may turn out to be very hard to swallow in the future."

Slowly Edward lowered himself to kneel in front of Isabelle, "I understand what your husband and family mean to you and I would never ask you to give them up. I can see the love pouring out of you when you look at him. I would be lying if I said I didn't wish it was me, I do. But because I love you like I do, first I want you to be safe and second I want your happiness. I am not blind I see that you are very happy in your life and in the end that is what I want for you."

As Edward reached for her hand he noticed Gabriel walk back into the room eyeing him carefully. Taking her hand but keeping an eye on Gabriel he said, "Now that I have found you I can't completely walk out of your life again. Please tell me that we can at least be friends after this is over? Please tell me I can contact you in some way?"

Gabriel was now standing behind her with his hand on her shoulder; his eyes had turned ice blue. Edward knew Gabriel would not be happy with his request but he also suspected that if she agreed to it Gabriel would have a hard time saying no and making her unhappy. "Edward," Isabelle started as she put her hand on top of Gabriel's, she was deep listening to Edward to show Gabriel his sincerity. "After this is over and you have had a chance to think about everything that has happened we can talk about remaining friends. Gabriel and I will also discuss it and find out what he would be able to tolerate. You will have to accept that this is extremely hard for him and goes against his nature. Allowing this will not be him trusting in you but in me. If you ask for any type of face to face contact Gabriel must be present, I insist on that. OK?"

"Yes, Bel- I mean Isabelle" Edward agreed with relief. Isabelle smiled and said, "Getting my name right is a start. Now, the others should almost be done with their medical tests and it is your turn. Do you want me to call Anthony to take you or do you want to find your own way?"

"I'll find it myself" Edward said, standing and walking out of the room. "I think that went as well as could be expected. Don't you?" Isabelle ask Gabriel. "It was OK" Gabriel replied. "I wish he had not touched you and I wanted to remove his hand. And by that I mean from his body but I think I did fine. We will have to talk about him wanting to stay in your life after this is done. I love and trust you and I can see he will respect your boundaries but his scent changes when he is near you and it puts me very much on edge. It makes me feel threatened and I know how that sounds but it is how I feel."

"Thank you for telling me your feelings. I know they are primal and hard to control. I would like to remain on friendly terms with the entire coven, but we will talk about it after this is done." Isabelle said standing to embrace her husband.

"Let's go then. All of the boys have returned including Thorne and Thunder. We need to see what they have to report." With that said Gabriel picked his wife so she could wrap her legs around his waist, kissed her soundly and carried her out of the room. With any luck their theories would be confirmed and they could go on the offensive.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

**Please read & review. Enjoy!!**


	19. Thorne & Thunder

Chapter 18

As Edward made his way to the dungeons and the medical suite he thought about all that Isabelle just said. It was hard not to call or think of her as his Bella, but he recognized that would be the first step in the necessary distance her husband would rightfully insist on. He forced himself to only think of the times he had seen her after he had left. He was still trying to convince himself that he did the right thing by walking away those times he had seen her but it was becoming much harder. He thought of the life she had now and wondered if he had approached her would he be leading this life with her now. Would it have been in the cards for them to have children, because he knew they would have been happy. He could not begrudge her happiness, it was one of the most important things to him and in many ways he was happy if she was. At the same time he was beginning to realize maybe he never had given her a fair chance. Maybe he had thought because of his ability and watching human nature for so long that he believed he knew more than she did or that he saw things more clearly than she did. It was a hard pill to swallow when he realized that she had seen him for the 17 year old boy he still was, insecurities and all, and had accepted him despite them while all he had done was doubt her motives and her love because she was a 17 year old girl and human.

He could hear his family's voices and the medical procedures had not been pleasant at all. As they realized he was approaching the started asking questions, they wanted to know about the conversation with Isabelle. He could tell from their thoughts they never expected him to get her back in any way they just hoped he had not taken away any chance they had of seeing her in the future. He entered the medical suite shaking his head and said "not now" to his family. Most of the tests where fine to undergo, the hair and venom samples were easy to give but when the restraints were put on for the skin sample he became uncomfortable. When the lycan came in to retrieve the sample he had kicked into fight or flight mode and began pulling at the restraints. He could hear her thoughts and knew she meant no harm but it was instinct to not be this close to a lycan, how had his family done this. And the restraints, how had they managed to find something to actually hold them? When they were first mentioned he knew his family mentally scoffed at the idea, they weren't now. She took several small samples so the wounds would easily heal and after that experience he opted to have one of the male vampires do the rest of the scans. He understood the x-rays and MRI's but the pictures were just uncomfortable to have taken, especially since he knew Isabelle would see them. By the time they were done he was stressed and thirsty, even though he had hunted the day before.

After he rejoined the family Carlisle asked that they be allowed to hunt before the mental scans started. Once the hunting flag was flying, they were escorted into the forest by Digby, Haldor and Keldan and spent the next two hours hunting. After they returned to the castle it would be back to the dungeons for the mental scans, which none of them were looking forward to having done. Alice, Jasper and Edward were separated from the rest of the family and began to learn the mental relaxation techniques that hopefully would keep their mind from breaking. Time had never really been a factor for the Cullen's, but now they recognized what a long tedious process this would be and they settled in for the long haul.

While the Cullen's were finishing up the tests and hunting, the Hamilton's were gathering in the solar to hear about Soren, Grim and Leif's visit to the Lycans and what Thorne and Thunder had been able to find out also. Soren started their tale, "The Lycans were immediately on edge because we came to them in full war dress and demanded an explanation. The Lycan elders were called for us to explain ourselves to. When we threw down the body parts and made our own demands to know why they were spying on us and what exactly they were breeding, they were shocked to say the least. Leif picked up on some things I will let him explain in a minute, but outwardly it looked as if the Elders had no idea about either thing happening. Then they began questioning us if the Cullen's were being interrogated yet and how that was coming along. I told them yes the Cullen's were currently being investigated and they seemed elated that the vampires were the ones causing problems for a change. The lycans are positive the Cullen's will be found guilty and they plan to celebrate when they are. They seem to think it will cause a shift in the Council. They identified the werewolf before we left and that caused a commotion. He is somehow related to one of the original werewolves and things were tense with the lycans and openly hostile with the wolves when we took our leave."

Isabelle turned to Leif and asked, "You were able to pick out more from their thoughts?"

"Yes," Leif began, "One of the Lycan Elders is in on the plot. I do not know exactly which one but I have it narrowed down to two, either Jean Luc of the Canadian sect or Nikolas of the Russian sect. The Elders had their heads together trying to figure out what to make of us so I could not be positive which one but it is definitely one of them. They were focused on how good it felt to help bring the vampires down. I don't think they realize just how deeply this plot runs. They were surprised by the hybrid but accepted pretty easily that hybrids may be needed to accomplish their task. Both of their minds were all over the place but I didn't notice any missing pieces. I think us arriving was a shock and they were scrambling to appease us without seeming weak. Now the werewolves, they are just pissed off because they got caught. They aren't worried about bringing the vampires down but are glad to finally be moving up in the order. Their thoughts are very smug about being in on things most of the other lycans don't know about. They are the muscle not the brain, their information on the overall plan is non-existent."

"So things with the lycans are much as we thought they were." Gabriel said taking his wife's hand. "Thorne, Thunder welcome back, your brothers can fill you in on everything that you have missed about their travels. The Cullen's are here and I think hunting at the moment. When they return we will start the mental scans. There have not been any problems and I want it kept that way. Do not start anything, understood?" Both boys nodded, "Yes, sir." "OK then which one of you wants to start?" asked Gabriel.

"I will" said Thorne. "First, we never did have to split up. The information was surprisingly easy to find. So easy that at first we thought it was planted for us to find. But after sifting and observing several meetings it became obvious that they never expect to get caught. They think people have forgotten about them and that we will be so wrapped up in proving the Cullen's innocence that they are being careless. They are very arrogant in the way they are handling things." Isabelle turned to her son, "Are they who we think?"

"Yes," answered Thunder, "The ones ultimately behind everything are the Brudes. They are mainly using the Druids to do things. The werewolves and voodoo priestesses think they are working for the druids, although the priestess may have a guess about the Brudes. The Cullen's were specifically picked because they were personally marked by the Keeper. The Brudes know that to be able to hold any sway with the Council they must discredit the Guardians & Executioners first. Once we are out of the way they think it will be easy to either take over or destroy the other clans so they can rule. With them ruling the humans do not stand a chance."

"We were also able to find out the human sacrifices at Stonehenge are used to call a Brude from the underworld." stated Thorne. "That is how they are getting their orders. We witnessed it twice and both times the Brude was able to stay 24 hours and then they returned to the underworld without a sacrifice. The offerings are always the female human virgins that were taken. The other girls taken are being used for the breeding program. They are mixing the girls DNA with different species to enhance the hybrid. We know they are using lycan, werewolf, druid and a mix of Cajun/voodoo and so far they seem to be happy with the results they are getting. They grow to adulthood faster than normal hybrids and judging by how many they are breeding they are going for quantity and not quality. We could not find any place where they are being trained to fight."

"It looks as if they plan on overpowering us with sheer numbers." Thunder said continuing the report. We were not able to find out when they plan on starting anything. However the druids were not happy when you captured the 3 spies and they have been trying to find a weakness in the protection around Hamilton land but I can't say it is a priority for them. The when, where and how of the attack are a closely guarded secret but it is obvious that we are the targets."

"Well we have some decisions to make then." Gabriel said. Isabelle nodded, "Yes we do. So far they have behaved exactly as we expected no surprises. I do not like that we have no idea when an attack will happen. I think your father is right it is time we go on the offensive. Now we need to decide how and when to do that. Do we go directly for the Brudes, which requires calling them from the underworld and releasing other things also or do we go for one of the clans? Think on it and we will discuss our options after the Cullen's are done with their scans."

Everyone agreed and as they were leaving the solar Anthony approached his grandfather and informed him of the return of the Cullen's from hunting. As Isabelle approached the Cullen's suite to discuss the remaining procedures she could hear them trying to get Edward to talk about his meeting with her. She could tell it was not something he wanted to do. Isabelle knew what she said had hurt him and she felt sad about that, but it was his decisions more than hers that forced things to work out this way. She would not feel guilty or regret what she felt for Gabriel, he was her life and she loved him but she was sorry that what made her so happy hurt Edward so profoundly. She hoped eventually he would be able to come to terms with the way things are now. She knocked on the door lightly to save him from the inquisition he was experiencing.

"Carlisle", Isabelle said as he opened the door. "I have come to discuss the scans with you before they start. As stated before Alice, Jasper and Edward will be the last ones done and they must be in the secured room while the others are being done. The scans can be performed by Mary, Leif, Digby, Haldor, Ingram or Kate and more than one can be done at a time. Remember they will be going through all of your memories so be sure you choose who you want to do it carefully. Follow me so we can begin."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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	20. Reconnecting

Chapter 19

Isabelle took them back to the medical suites. Alice, Jasper and Edward went to the secured suite to practice their mental relaxation while the others picked their scanners and went to get settled for the procedure. For the first time Isabelle felt sorry for the procedures they used. The next several hours would be long and hard on the Cullen's but in the long run it would more than likely save their lives. On her way out Isabelle picked up the test results for the Cullen's and the hybrid and went to find Gabriel.

She found him at the waterfall in the forest. He had left subtle clues for her to find him there. It was a special place for the two of them, they had married there, done the bonding there and each of their sons was conceived there. She could feel him before she saw him and when she stepped out of the forest he was already gazing at her. Isabelle could feel how hard it was on him having Edward and the Cullen's here, they were linked to a part of her Gabriel didn't know and that put him even more on edge. Edward didn't realize how close he was to death when he had touched her hand on the balcony. She was what had stopped Gabriel from killing him; she had sent her feelings to him when he had walked up behind her. Her love for him, her pride in his restraint and lastly her disappointment if he carried out killing Edward, the last one was a below the belt move and she knew it but it was what had stopped him. Now she had to make this right, he was the most important thing in her life and he was feeling threatened by an unmated male, one who appeared to still be in love with her.

She understood his feelings, once a female lycan tried to rub herself all over him at a Council meeting. They had been married about 500 years at the time, before the lycan could blink Isabelle had reached across the table pulled her heart out and crushed it. Then she calmly sat back down to listen to the meeting with the crushed heart in the middle of the table. When everyone turned to her she shrugged and asked if any of the other females needed a lesson in touching someone else's mate. The women replied no and nothing like that has ever happened again. What made it even harder for Gabriel, if that was possible, was the fact that he knew she did not welcome any kind of intimacy or touches from Edward no matter how innocent they were. In Gabriel's eyes not only was Edward touching his mate but he was doing so against her will.

She eyed him up and down, he was lying on his plaid naked as the day he was born and he was magnificent. She needed to claim him, he needed to know she chose him over all others and when she shed her dress and her eyes flashed ice blue Gabriel knew he was in trouble. As he went to sit up he heard her murmur something and then he was being pinned to the ground as vines sprouted up to hold him in place. "You are mine Gabriel Hamilton, no one else can claim you and I will never let you go." Isabelle growled at him while lowering herself onto him. "YOU LET HIM TOUCH YOU!" Gabriel snarled back at her. "I did because that is what he needed for comfort. I CHOSE YOU! You are my mate. You are the only one to ever touch me this way, to touch my soul. I am yours, body and soul. Open to me fully cèile, bind with me I need your strength and your love."

Gabriel opened their link fully to bind their minds and souls as Isabelle was binding their bodies together. It was not soft and gentle, it was a claiming, and a taking and a giving of what they each needed.

As she collapsed on top of him and released the vines he took her in his arms, "'Nam Mnaol, I love you and I am trying to keep my jealousy in check but it is hard. I know you understand this but it hurts to keep disappointing you. We have been mated almost 3,000 years logically I know he is not a threat and it bothers me that even knowing that I still need reassurance. I think if you let me beats his ass it would help." Isabelle laughed, "Oh, I am sure if I let you do that it would make you feel better and I will make a deal with you. If he touches me again, after I warn him not to, then you can beat him for me. Will that satisfy your nature for a while?" "YES," Gabriel yelled to the sky, "I hope he screws up soon. It could be fun; I'll invite the boys to watch." Isabelle stood shaking her head, "Like I said earlier your sons get their war mongering attitudes for you. Let's head back I need to go over the test results so far with you. At a quick glance I saw some interesting information."

As Isabelle and Gabriel entered the keep they noticed the flag was flying indicating that the Cullen's were hunting. Mary let them know that the scans were done on Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett and Digby and Keldan were taking them hunting. Kate was setting up to begin Alice's scan with Leif watching for problems. Alice and Jasper's scans would be easier than Edward's. Isabelle was sure with him they would need a watcher and a blocker so Edward wasn't overloaded with the memories of the scanner. He would need to be handled very delicately. Scanning him was very necessary but also very dangerous, for this reason he would be last. She hoped he was strong enough to take it.

The results on the Cullen's were interesting. She wondered if Carlisle knew that his venom came from one of the most ancient bloodlines and so did the ones he turned. Alice and Jasper came from newer lines and Jasper was from a volatile South American bloodline, know wonder he was such a good fighter. DNA and tissue samples came back normal as did their MRI's. They x-ray's showed they had each been tagged with what looked like a tracking device, but at this time none of them looked as if they had been activated. She wondered how that was done without their knowledge, in a fight maybe. She would have to ask about recent skirmishes they had been in. Also, the infrared pictures showed that another tracking device was on Alice, Jasper and Edward. When activated it would send out a heat signature, she was almost positive this was used by the Volturi but she would need to find out if they knew they were there, and if they were aware Jasper's was trying to transmit. It was not successful because of the castle's protection but it was trying none the less.

The hybrid was the most interesting, he had been genetically enhanced. His blood sample showed similarities to human, lycan and the Cajun/voodoo. When looking at his DNA sample he had been breed for intelligence. Judging from his brain scans and tests his IQ was off the charts. Was this why they took some of the females? If they were going for numbers in an army they would need human blood to prevent inbreeding. If you are taking humans anyway why not take the smart ones? At least that way you stood a chance of training them quickly. The most disturbing thing about the hybrid was he had been given growth hormones. Hybrids aged quickly under normal circumstances, how fast had they accelerated the growth process and what did that do to them mentally? She could ask Carlisle to see if he had any insight into this, she needed to talk to him about the tracking devices anyway.

She called for Anthony and told him to let Carlisle she needed to see him when he returned. Anthony said we would and informed her Alice was now hunting and Jasper was undergoing the scans. Isabelle took this time to think about Alice. She did miss Alice and would like to see her, but Alice had always thought she and Edward would end up together and those thoughts would only cause more trouble. She would need to make sure it was clear she would not leave her husband and any talk of that kind was not welcome here. Maybe Carlisle could help with that also. There was a knock on the door and Anthony was letting Carlisle in.

"Thank you for coming Carlisle," Isabelle said leading him to the sitting area. "I have several things I need to discuss with you but first is everyone ok after the scans?"

"Yes, everyone appears to be doing fine. I understand what you meant about the tests not being pleasant and we are grateful to be able to hunt so often. They are very draining." Carlisle answered. "We are trying to make you as comfortable as possible." Isabelle said.

"Actually, I have a few things to share with you and a few I would like to ask you opinion on."

"First, are you aware that you all have had tracking devices implanted on you?" Isabelle asked. At this Carlisle's eyes widen, "No, I had no idea. How was that done without our knowledge?"

"Well have you been involved in any fights the last 5 years? It could have been done then." Isabelle questioned. Carlisle shook his head no. "In that case we will have to wait until I can talk to whoever scanned you. The memory of that must have been erased. I can tell you they are planted at the base of the skull fairly deep and they have not been activated. You also need to know that Edward, Alice and Jasper also have a second device on them; it is at the base of their spines. It is infrared and sends out a heat signature when active. I believe this is the kind used by the Volturi. Jasper's has been activated but the protection around the castle is jamming the signal out. Once you leave here though he will be transmitting. We can not remove the devices Carlisle, to do so would tip our hand to much. However, you have the right to know they are there and you need to decide if you want to tell the rest about them or not. They will need to go on as if they don't know about them. If you think that would be to difficult for them then I suggest not telling them at all."

"There is nothing you can do about them?" he asked. "No, I am sorry about that but all we can do is alert you to the fact they are there. Whoever put them there doesn't need to track you they can find you at a moments notice. If we remove them it will send up a red flag when they are activated and that could be worse for your family. I need to ask for your assistance on two matters, if you would like to help of course?" Isabelle said. Carlisle nodded for her to continue. "The hybrid that was captured was given growth hormones to accelerate aging. We would like for you to look over his results and sit in on the discussion about how this may have affected his mental ability." continued Isabelle. "I would love to sit in on this Isabelle. I want to help in any way I can." Carlisle responded.

Isabelle looked down at her hands, "Carlisle I have something else I need to talk to you about and it is sensitive. I know Edward has not told you much about our talk and it is not my place to tell you. When he is ready he will talk to you. At one point in the conversation he reached out and held my hand. I need you to stress to Edward that he can not touch me. It is one thing if I initiate contact, which I will not, but he can't reach out to me first, under any circumstances. Gabriel has asked for and received my ok to 'beat his ass' if he does, he is really looking forward to Edward messing up. I fear it will not end well for Edward so no touching, ever." Carlisle agreed to talk to Edward, again.

"Lastly, I know Alice wants to talk to me and I would like to catch up with her, with all of you actually. The problem is Alice has always felt so sure that Edward and I would end up together; she can not vocalize those feelings here. If we meet on a social level any talk of Edward and I is strictly off limits, I will not hurt my husband in that manner. His patience is almost out and he never had much to begin with. I can not allow someone we invited into our home to insult him in that manner. I hope you can understand?" Isabelle said looking at Carlisle. "I do understand, in fact we all do or almost all of us." Carlisle responded. "I can speak for all of us but Edward when I say we just want your happiness Isabelle and I am not saying he doesn't want you happy, he doesn't talk to us about you. There is guilt and remorse over how we left and before we arrived we all talked to Edward about how to behave. We just want to know you are happy and be a part of your life in any way possible."

"Thank you Carlisle. I would like that also, as long as everyone can abide by the boundaries set up. Now, let me go get you a copy of the results and see if you can help us with the hybrid." As Isabelle left Carlisle was glad he could help in some way, he was glad his family may be able to be a part of her life and he was furious at Edward. If Gabriel didn't rip him apart Carlisle was tempted to do it himself or let Alice carry out her threat. It was nice to know he had options.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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	21. Taken

Chapter 20

When the alarm sounded Carlisle was in the lab looking over the tests for the hybrid, Edward was in the middle of his scan, the other Cullen's were in their suite. The Guardians had gathered to discuss the best way to proceed and the Executioners were in the courtyard training area, until the alarm went up. The fast, sharp, loud beeps resonated through the air alerting the Hamilton's - someone had pressed a panic button.

Isabelle yelled to Anthony, "Get the other children inside and protect the Cullen's. Ring the bells so the clan knows to go to their safe zones. Thorne, Thunder I need you. "As she grabbed her sons hands the 3 of them shouted, "_With life and limb and love I fight; harden the shell with my might; Taller than the tallest tree; as I will so mote it be."_ The Cullen's, except Edward, ran out onto a balcony and stared in awe as the protective shell around the land became a physical clear wall. As they looked at Isabelle and her sons and the determination on their faces grew the wall widened until it was 6" thick and stood two feet above the tallest tree. As they attempted to leave the balcony they were surrounded by 12 children all holding swords. Anthony stepped forward, "You can stay on the balcony or go inside your suite but you are not permitted to leave the castle at this time. Please do not force us to detain you." Emmett scoffed, "Come on we can help here and do you really think kids can stop us even if there are 12 of you?" A girl that looked to be about 13 stepped towards him, "Haven't you played and wrestled enough with the boys to know looks can be deceiving. We are not ordinary children and some of us are older than you. Do not force us to fight you the end will not be good for you." Alice stepped to Carlisle, "She is right. If we make them fight, you will be reattaching limbs for quite a while." With that information they decided to just watch from the balcony.

Gabriel had sent the Executioners to the rings to find out who pressed the panic button and why. The information was troubling, a group of girls had gone into the forest and not returned. The evidence indicated they may have accidentally crossed the boundary and been taken. Isabelle immediately organized the Guardians; Jillian shifted and took to the sky, Catherine went on horseback with Michael and Grim to search the forest, Iris and Keldan along with Digby and Elisabeth took the cars to search the road and wait at the end of the forest for the others. No one knew when or where they would find them or what condition everyone would be in but they prepared for the worst. Isabelle knew the girls wouldn't just wonder off they must have been lured away, but for what purpose?

Jillian sounded the cry saying she had found the girls and their kidnappers. As she continued to circle the area the Hamilton's descended. What they found was druids deep listening to the girls being guarded by werewolves and hybrids. The Cullen's watched in awe as Isabelle gave the order to attack, when the words "no prisoner's" left her mouth a cold chill shivered down their spines. Watching the Hamilton's do battle was almost like watching a dance of some kind, the way they moved together it was as if they could read each others minds. Taking care of the werewolves was easy for them even the women fought like warriors, no hesitation and no mercy. The hybrids used slightly more strategy but it was obvious they did not have much previous fighting experience. Jasper watched intently and was captivated by the way they fought each other. He spoke to Carlisle, "If we eventually come up against any of them it is important that we pay attention to them fighting now so we can survive later. It will not be like fighting other vampires because a bite could kill us so you still have to be defensive to a point when fighting." With that said he resumed watching the battle and gained a new respect for the Hamilton's. He turned to the children guarding them and asked, "How young are you taught to fight?" Anthony was the one to answer, "As soon as we can walk we start to learn hand to hand combat. Weapons training begins as soon as we have enough coordination to use each weapon."

The fighting slowed until it was just the druids left and they were in direct contact to the girls. At this point Gabriel ordered the Executioners to cut the brands off the werewolves for identification purposes and a field test be done on the hybrids. If the hybrids were something they had not seen yet then the bodies were to be taken back to the castle. But if they already had one of that hybrid type the brand was to be cut off and the body destroyed like the wolves.

The druids had formed a circle with the girls in the middle and a druid standing in front of each girl probing her mind. Druids did not fight with weapons; this would be a magical fight. Isabelle approached the circle flanked by Mary, Ruth, Digby and Heidi on one side and Ingram, Kate, Thorne and Thunder on the other. As everyone started to spread out around the circle the air felt as if was becoming charged with static electricity. The Hamilton's stood completely still and just looked intently at the druids. The druids were unable to remain still and started murmuring in Latin as they shifted around. As the charge continued to build, the children drew the Cullen's into a circle. Anthony looked to them and said "Brace yourselves; this is going to be big and stay inside the circle." The children joined hands and as soon as they were linked a shock wave went out that incapacitated the druids forming the outer circle. The Hamilton's moved so quickly that they had killed the outer druids and were standing with their swords at the necks of the ones in front of the girls before the wave and sonic boom reached the Cullen's.

The druids that had been probing the girls were bound and gagged and dragged into the castle dungeons. The ones that had been killed had their identifying tattoos cut off and were destroyed. As the Hamilton's were returning the parents of the girls were brought to the castle to be with their children. The druids had been dragged behind the horses through the forest to the castle. Once the parents saw them approaching they started throwing stones at them until the Executioners dismounted to drag them inside. When the Cullen's were surprised that such behavior was allowed Jasper once again spoke up with the answer, "There is a reason everyone is scared of them and I am guessing that this is just a small part of that fear. They are very good at what they do, I wouldn't question their methods. They have been doing this a long time and it would just piss them off. Besides their methods are effective and we need them to survive this."

Isabelle and Gabriel returned to the castle in one of the cars. As they stepped out Michael and Catherine approached them to give an update and receive further orders. Edward was hunting and when he returned the last part of his scan would begin, the brands and tattoos were being recorded then would be packed up for delivery and a message had arrived from the Council. The next meeting would be in one week and they wanted an update on the Cullen's. "Great" was Gabriel's response.

"Michael we will deliver the brands and tattoos personally at the meeting be sure your brothers know I expect them to attend also, all but one will go with us. Decide amongst yourselves who will stay behind. Also discuss protection for the Cullen's, they will be going with us to the meeting. Anything else for now, Isabelle?" Gabriel asked. "No, we will now more after we interrogate the druids." she answered and turned to Catherine. "We can run some of the tests and collect samples while Edward is being scanned, the other things will have to wait until he is done. Ask Carlisle if he would like to participate in running the tests, whatever he decides is fine with me. Before we move onto the actual interrogations and mind scans be sure at least Alice, Jasper and Edward are in the special suite. They will still be able to hear what is going on but they won't have to experience it with their gifts also."

Isabelle took Gabriel's hand and continued on to the keep saying, "Once Edward is done we can go over the scans with the Cullen's and start the druid interrogations. We only have a week to plan everything out and we need more evidence against the Brude's. It is also hard to know who to trust on the Council. We have to get this right, there is more at stake here than just the Cullen's I can feel it. Something bad is coming Gabriel and it frightens me that I can't see what it is."

"I can feel that it frightens and upsets you. Whatever comes we will deal with it together like we always have. I love you Isabelle, as long as you have faith in that the rest will be ok."

"I do and I love you too Gabriel."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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	22. Disclosure

Chapter 21

By nightfall Edward, Alice and Jasper were back sequestered in the secure room while the interrogation of the druids began, Carlisle was helping run tests in the lab and the rest of the Cullen's were on the training grounds with the Hamilton children learning about medieval weapons. They had taken Jasper's statement to heart; if they wanted to live they needed to know how to fight more than vampires.

The Hamilton's had already gone over the results of the Cullen's scans and were now talking to the girls about what happened. They were scared they were in trouble and had a hard time getting the story out but between what they said and what Ingram picked out of their minds the whole story came out. Yes, the girls were in a part of the forest they should not have been, much closer to the line than was safe. They were speculating about what was going on in the castle, talking about the male vampires especially Edward. That was when they noticed the boys walking towards them asking them if they had seen the vampires in the woods. Several things contributed to them crossing the line; they are young impressionable girls hoping for love, the boys knew about vampires and things most people don't and the girls looking to impress them spoke as if they knew more about what was happening than they did. It was easy to lure them across the boundary.

Once the druids had the girls they began asking questions about what was happening at the castle. Did they know which way the Guardians were leaning on the guilt of the Cullen's? Were all prisoners allowed the freedom of the vampires? Were they planning any attacks? Had the Executioner's been training more than usual? Were there any other prisoners in the castle? The girls didn't have the answers to these questions and so began the mind probes. Through the girls minds they saw the Executioner's training, the Cullen's coming and going and different members of the Hamilton family coming and going. Thankfully they had been stopped before they could get far enough into the girls minds to realize that none of the recent things the girls had seen was normal behavior during an investigation. The girls were released to their parents and from the looks on their faces they wished it was Isabelle doling out their punishment and not their parents.

After the girls left the castle Haldor went to dungeons to let them know the questioning could now really begin. On his way back to Gabriel's office he stopped by the medical suites to let Carlisle know they were ready to discuss his coven's scans. If he wanted Alice, Edward and Jasper involved in the discussion then everyone would need to meet in the secure room. Carlisle decided he did want everyone together to go over them so Haldor called up to the office with Carlisle's decision. As the Hamilton's made their way to the secure room you could hear screams coming up from the dungeon. Some were for mercy, others for death and some were just in pain but none of them would be answered. The Hamilton's knew this and as they stepped into the room the Cullen's knew by their impassive faces that they wouldn't be either.

Isabelle looked around as everyone was taking their seats. "Carlisle, with everything we needed to get done there has been little time to explain things as they should be explained. With recent events I must take the time to explain as fully as I can. I want you to know we were never hiding things from you but rather only giving you the information that was a necessity for you to know. In most instances not telling was for your benefit but that is no longer the case. I know you have suspected this but let me lay it out for you. Yes we followed you for the two weeks with the exception of yourself, Esme and Edward. Yes we searched your houses, plural not just the one in Leeds and yes we dug deeply into your lives including your human ones. We looked into it all; it had to be done so that there would no surprises in the end. The main reason we followed you is so that nothing was overlooked and it is a good thing we did because our senses and contacts picked up more than yours did."

Facing Rosalie and Emmett, Isabelle started, "Soren and Ruth tailed Rose and Emmett, and we got the impression that you trust the Egyptian coven, you shouldn't. They are unsure about the entire situation, they will go whichever saves their butts do not forget that when the time comes to call upon your friends for aid. Some of the werewolves in Siberia and Russia are changing with out the full moon. It is still a full transformation unlike the lycans but we do not know if this is a hybrid or just a case of evolution that is happening. At Stonehenge, they are doing human sacrifices as well as animal ones. The humans are needed in a ceremony to open a door to the underworld. They are using the doorway to bring forth Brudes. They stay for about 24 hours and then return without a sacrifice. Looking into their human and vampire lives everything was fine; we found nothing to be concerned about."

Turning to Jasper and Alice she continued, "Digby and Elisabeth followed Jasper and Alice and did not turn up anything until New Orleans. That is where the voodoo magic was big and also where Digby and Elisabeth picked up a hybrid tail that followed them back here, but we took care of that problem. Jasper has met a berserker and a few druids, as well as killing a werewolf in Russia before finding Alice. However none of these actions or encounters seemed to have caused any lasting ripples. We did uncover some information about Alice's past and if you want after this over I will gladly sit down and explain it all to you Alice. The choice is yours of course." Alice immediately started bouncing in her seat and responded, "I would love to do that Isabelle. Thank you."

"Now let's go over the medical tests and scans." Isabelle continued. "There are a few things I have mentioned to Carlisle already and he has asked me to bring them up in this meeting. First the venom test, Carlisle and therefore those he turned, are from one of the most ancient bloodlines and of Italian descent. This maybe one of the reasons you are able to deal with the bloodlust easier than others, the strength and age of your venom. As far as we can tell the five of you are among the last of this bloodline. Alice is from an old bloodline but not as old as Carlisle's. Jasper is the most interesting while he is also from an ancient bloodline; it is a volatile South American one. This is most likely part of what makes him such an effective fighter and it is definitely part of why his bloodlust is so hard to control."

"Second, the x-rays showed that each of you have a tracking device implanted at the base of your skull. They are not active and we can not remove them." This got the attention of the Cullen's quickly. Isabelle held her hand up to stop the questions she could see where coming. "When I said can not I mean will not remove them. If we try to take them out it could activate them or alert someone that they are gone and we can't have that yet. Whoever put them there needs to think we don't know about them. We looked to see if you had any memory of them during the scans and none of you did, which means at some point that memory was wiped from your mind. It wasn't altered or fuzzy like we do but completely removed, this is not easy to do properly. I will get to our theories on who did it later. Alice, Jasper and Edward have a separate tracking device on them at the base of their spines, almost like a tramp stamp. It showed up during the infrared pictures. When activated it emits a heat signature that is traceable. Jasper's has been turned on and is pinging away. The protection around the castle prevents this signal from getting out but once you leave Hamilton land they will know exactly where you are. This device is used by the Volturi so we are guessing it is theirs. I know they have Demetri but with these devices they can track you without him. Once again you have no memory of this being implanted which makes no sense because the Volturi wouldn't hide this from you. We think whoever wiped your first memory did this one as well. Now they have a second way to at least track three of you if need be."

Isabelle paused for a moment and then sighed before looking at each of them, "All of you have had your memories altered to some degree. Most of it is small things like the tracking devices and general knowledge things about the Druid and Lycan Clans. It turns out none of you ever knew anything about the prophecy or Brudes which is odd. It could be because of the way the brothers came into power, we are not sure. The other clans have passed this type of information on in the form of legend stories and myths but it does get passed on, even if they don't believe. Perhaps the most disturbing thing found is that Emmett has imbedded memories waiting to be accessed."

"What?" Emmett yelled. "How can I have memories I know nothing about yet? Can you get them out? Who put them there?"

"Calm down Emmett and I will answer your questions as much as I can." Isabelle said calmly. "The memories are about taking the girls and what happens to them. They are just sitting in your brain waiting for a trigger word to be said so they come forward in your mind. Once they are accessed it would be like a real memory for you. From what Ingram was able to see it would be very convincing, Emmett would not have a reason to doubt he did those things and these memories would come with a full sensory experience- sight, sounds everything would seem very real to him. We deactivated his trigger so to speak, now when the word is said to him he will remember this conversation and come to tell one of us without accessing the false memories. Because Emmett's memory would have been full sensory we scanned Jasper and Edward specifically for triggers and found several. Jasper has 2 triggers - one is for affecting his memory and the other is for acceptance. Jasper would just be able to feel what Emmett is feeling at the time so he just needs to accept the feelings as true. Edward has several and once we found the one pertaining to his memory and the one for Emmett we stopped trying to find out what they did and just deactivated them. The triggers and memory altering with Edward is very dangerous, because of his gift you also have to alter the memories he has from others minds. Whoever did this to him has amazing control and they had to be able to keep him for quite some time. You each have small blackout periods in your minds; this is when the memory altering was done. From what was happening before the blackout it looks as if you were each hunting when it was done. Except Edward, his largest blackout period happens in Vancouver when he was away from the coven. But for the rest of you this being done in Leeds while you are hunting explains the 2 druid's presence Heidi and Keldan picked up even though they were attempting to cloak themselves."

Gabriel spoke at this time, "There are a couple of other things we need to discuss before we get to who is behind this and why. Starting with the hybrids; the college girls were taken to enhance their breeding program. The needed to infuse the bloodline with new blood so if you are taking human girls anyway why not take the ones that will progress the bloodline. Their blood is being mixed with lycan, druid, werewolf and even Cajun/voodoo to bring out certain traits maybe in some it is strength, others it is intelligence and for druids it may be a magically boost. We also know they are being given growth hormones so they mature faster physically but we are unsure what this does mentally and emotionally. The hybrids currently in interrogation should be able to answer those questions for us. Right now it appears they are going for quantity and not quality because they are advancing the already fast growth process. If it turns out the hormones don't affect them then they are going for both and that is something to consider."

"The last thing to consider before we take a break is how the Cullen Coven is perceived by the supernatural world." Gabriel said. "I know some of you picked up on it and so did we while investigating you. If one or two of you were mentioned by name things were fine but if we just said the Cullen's the reactions were very different. They varied from fine to disgust to disgruntled to jealous to gleeful that you are the ones trouble. It didn't matter if we were talking to druids, lycans or vampires the reactions were all over the board. Most felt as if you thought you were above them and trying to "pass" as human, others are worried because of the size and abilities of the members in the coven, some are put off by your diet and a lot are just happy it is the vampires in trouble because that doesn't happen very often."

Carlisle and the rest looked as if they had just run a marathon and mentally they had. Isabelle leaned forward and placed her hand on top of Carlisle's, "I know this is a lot to take in and I am sorry we can't give you more time to deal with it but we must be ready for the Council meeting next week. We will take a break and meet again in the morning. While you are taking this time you also need to think about whom you can call to come to your aid, whom you trust with your lives because that is what you will be doing. You also need to decide if you want to return to Leeds or spend the week here until we leave for the meeting and you will be going to that with us. We are still conducting interrogations so Alice, Jasper and Edward may want to remain in the room so they don't have to experience that also or you all can it is up to you."

The Hamilton's stood and filed out of the room. At the door Isabelle turned and said, "We did notice while scanning everyone that not all of the experiences while traveling had been shared with the coven." At this the Hamilton's all laughed. "My favorite was Emmett and the anaconda" Gabriel said shaking his head. Elisabeth poked her head back in the room and said, "Mine was Alice and the voodoo doll, that was priceless." Isabelle shook her head and looked to a confused Carlisle, "If you need a mood lightener force them to tell the stories, they truly are funny."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters**

**Please read & review. Enjoy!!**


	23. Deciding

Chapter 22

As the Hamilton's made their exit the Cullen's turned their attention to Alice and Emmett who said at the same time, "No way in hell am I telling that story!" After staring at each other for a few minutes and realizing no story would be forth coming Carlisle sat down and started the discussion they needed to have.

"Some things I think we just need to not worry about at this time, like the tracking devices and the memory altering. There is nothing we can do about them at this time and it seems as if the Hamilton's are close to figuring out who is doing this. I think we should leave this to them for now." All the Cullen's nodded their agreement to this statement. Rose was the one who spoke, "I agree completely. They have done nothing but try to put us at ease and keep us safe since we have met them. I believe they have done everything they can at this point to take care of the tracking and memory problems. Now, do we return to England or stay here for the week before we have to go the meeting with them?"

Edward could tell from their thoughts that although they would love to go home and just relax for a week, they also knew they should stay here where they are safe and prepare for the fight to come. Jasper was the one to speak what everyone was thinking, "Judging from everyone's feelings I think we are on the same page. I would love nothing more than to go home and just be for the next week, but that is unrealistic and you all know it too. I think we need to stay here for several reasons: first although it is stressful we are safe here, second we do not know enough about what we will be fighting to leave without protection and we can make any calls we need to from here, third we need to be trained to fight the different things we will be up against and last I think we need to be close to know what is going on at all times. They may not tell us everything up front but we would be able to pick up on enough that if there is a big problem we are already here to deal with it."

Emmett nodded his head saying, "I agree with Jasper. Even if the Guardians or Executioners can't train us, those 'kids' were seriously kicking our ass and I think we could learn a lot from them. At the very least they can show us the basics." Jasper agreed, "I would only call them kids based on how old they look. They know quite a bit about strategy and execution. I have no problem believing some of them are older than us and they were sent to protect us so that tells me their parents trust in their skill enough to fight something until reinforcements can arrive. At this point I do not think we would last that long."

Carlisle spoke up, "It is agreed we will stay and ask the Hamilton's to give us training on the weapons to be used. Now, who do we call to help us at the meeting? They said we shouldn't trust the Egyptian coven, who do we trust?" Several names were thrown out and in the end they decided to ask the Hamilton's for advice before actually making any calls. If everything was ok they would be calling the Denali's, Siobhan's coven in Ireland, a few nomads they knew and the Volturi. Most of the guard may not have any loyalty to the Cullen's but they would be loyal to the brothers and the brothers were loyal to Carlisle, they were placing their trust in that loyalty.

"We also need to look at whom not to trust." Jasper said. "Several times mention has been made of vampire scents, so some vampires have been helping the werewolves. I am betting it is the Romanians. They were not happy with the way they were deposed and would be looking for revenge against the Volturi. On a more personal front, if they are looking for revenge against us personally then I would look at Victoria and even Maria to an extent to be helping them. We can't afford to overlook anyone we have offended, no matter how small we think it is."

Esme reached out for Carlisle and taking his hand spoke, "This is all surreal. I feel as if I can't process everything because I don't have all the information. I feel as if I am missing something big. Like with the scans, why could only certain people do it and why were the women assigned to Alice, Jasper and Edward? I don't recall being told exactly what they are or what the children are either. And what are they doing in the dungeons to cause that screaming?" Looking at Carlisle sadly she continued, "I am having a very hard time seeing any of the old Bella in Isabelle."

Carlisle put his arm around her and looked to Jasper, "I think you could best answer some of her questions." Jasper answered, "I do not expect them to tell us what the women or the children are. It is not information we need to know and if we are captured and talked or were probed it would give an enemy too much information about them. I am guessing the women are purebloods of whatever they are. Alice had Kate and I had Mary as a scanner what about you Edward?"

"Well, I had Mary as the scanner and Kate was the blocker with Leif as a watcher", he said. Jasper continued, "The women are the most experienced in doing this, which is why they were assigned to us and why both were assigned to Edward. It has been made clear they were very worried about Edward's mind not being able to handle this and treated him with kid gloves. As far as the dungeons, I am sure they are torturing the druids before they start the mind scans. If they can break them physically and in spirit it will make it much easier to scan their minds. Kate and Mary were not in here for the meeting, I am positive they were in the dungeons taking the information from the druid's minds and probably by force. Also, when they talked about scanning us it was always in the medical suites or the medical wing. They have not said that about anyone else, for them it is the dungeons. Given the age of this castle I think they mean the actual dungeons."

With that thought the Cullen's shuddered, none of them wanted a tour of the dungeons. Carlisle spoke again, "We are missing large pieces of the puzzle to put this together but I think they are doing that out of self preservation. If any of them are captured they have the power to protect and deflect an assault on their mind and they have had centuries to prefect it. We are not able to do that so we are not being told the critical information. We will have to be told eventually but I think we should wait until they offer it and learn as much as we physically can about fighting and how to win this fight. We need to pick up as much as we can in the next week."

Carlisle stood and started pacing, "Esme, Bella is gone. That is something we all need to realize and come to grips with. Given the prophecy, the Bella we knew probably would not exist today even if we hadn't left. The difference is we would have been around to see the changes. To an extent what is happening today would be occurring even if she and Edward had stayed together. Her Guardians would have still come and explained everything. Edward would have had to live through history with her and us too if we wanted to be a part of their lives."

"But all we have seen since learning she is alive is her as Isabelle, the Keeper and leader of the Guardians. We have only seen her doing her job and the consequences her orders have. We have not seen Lady Hamilton, matriarch of the Hamilton Clan, or just Isabelle mother, grandmother and wife. I am sure that person is much softer. Which leads us to the next thing we need to discuss, she has sensed that we would like to spend time with her reconnecting with who she is now. She is willing to do this and actually looks forward to it but there are stipulations."

Carlisle looked at each member of his family, "I can not stress this enough, she will not allow anything that hurts Gabriel or her family and I don't mean just physically. As a berserker Gabriel's bond with her is very strong and if you think vampires are territorial about their mates, Gabriel and Isabelle's berserker bond increases this feeling 10 times stronger than we feel when our mate is threatened. Add to this her past with Edward and he is already on edge about her being around us because he is unsure of Edward's intentions. Hopefully with time and nothing happening Gabriel will begin to relax. Signs to look for that he is being pushed too close to the edge are if he puts war braids in the front of his hair and definitely if his eyes flash ice blue. The flash of his eyes is an indication that he is getting ready to act. We, the males, can not initiate physical contact with her and like earlier when she took my hand; I squeezed her hand and then let it drop. The girls I am not sure about but again let her touch you first just to be sure. Gabriel is not the only one to worry about also be aware of her sons, they are extremely protective especially if their father is not around. "

Carlisle looked intently at Edward, "You must refrain from touching her. She told me about you taking her hand and you have no idea how close you came to having it removed from your body. Even if she touches you first, which I doubt will ever happen, do not touch her. Gabriel has picked up on the fact that your scent and demeanor change around her. He has asked for and been granted permission to beat your ass should you touch her. I hear he is looking forward to it actually and she will not try to stop him. Also, she knows you touching her makes Gabriel uncomfortable which in turn makes her uncomfortable because he is hurting. Through their bond he picks up on the fact that she is uncomfortable and your touch is unwanted and that only fuels his anger. It is a vicious cycle Edward, avoid it at all costs."

Carlisle looked to Alice and said, "She knows about your visions and that you were always rooting for her and Edward. That subject is off limits. If we want to be a part of her life now than we need to deal with her life now, not the life that could have been or the life that was. She is willing to discuss the past to a point but that does not include how things may have been had we not left. We also need to understand that there are some things about her past and her family that she will not share with us at all. As long as we can abide by the rules she is willing to give us more access to her and her family."

"Can you all do that?" Carlisle asked. Each of them shook their heads yes. "Ok then, Edward go you want to tell us about your conversation with her?" Edward looked at his family, "Not really. I will tell you that she gave me quite a bit to think about and that I realize I have no one but myself to blame for the position I am in now. Had I talked to her or listened to you guys at some point things might be different now. She made it clear that she would never her husband and I told her I hoped at some point we could be friends, but I don't know if that will be possible. I told her ultimately I just want her to be happy and I can see Gabriel makes her very happy, in the end that may have to be enough for me."

Carlisle picked up the phone, called the keep and asked to have Isabelle come to the secure room at her convenience. After 10 minutes Isabelle knocked softly then opened the door escorted by Soren to see what she could do for the Cullen's. "What can I do for you Carlisle?"

"We have been talking and have come to some decisions we would like to let you know about and ask your opinion on." Carlisle said. "Ok, let's hear it then", she responded. "First" Carlisle began, "we would like to stay the week before the meeting here at the castle instead of returning to England and we would like to be trained on the weapons and physical combat." She turned to the Cullen's, "There is no problem with you staying here for the week. I am sure everyone would like to get to know you better and as I said it would be nice to catch up to an extent. As for the weapons training," Isabelle turned to Soren who nodded his head to her, "we can work something out. Even if the adults are unable to do it I am sure you have noticed that the children are quite skilled. That would probably be the best place to start anyway. Soren will talk to Anthony and set something up. The interrogations should be done by morning and we can discuss specifics then. Was that all?"

"No" Carlisle stated taking a piece of paper off the table, "here is a list of vampires we would like to call for aid. I was hoping you could look over it and let us know if we can trust them?" Isabelle looked over the names, "At first glance I would say these are fine but I will look into them and let you know tomorrow morning. The interrogations are still going on but the only one who has to stay in this room until they are finished is Edward. I can't have you reading their minds and getting too much information, but the rest of you are free to explore the castle and land. Carlisle feel free to return to the lab if you want I am sure they could use your help."

She looked at them all sadly, "I am sure you are questioning our methods by now and all I can say is trust that we know what we are doing. I am sorry we can not explain everything but you will know all of it before we leave for the meeting. I will see you all in the morning."

Carlisle decided to go back to the lab; he found the work fascinating and would do what we could to help his family. The other Cullen's decided to stay in the secure room, they had no desire to hear the screams and knew even if they went outside they would still be able to. As they were sitting there discussing how to spend the night Edward spoke up laughing, "I could tell you Emmett's anaconda story or Alice's voodoo doll one, I picked it out of their minds earlier when it was mentioned?" Alice and Emmet both shouted "NO!" Esme patted Edward's arm saying, "Why don't you start with Emmett."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

**Please read and review - Enjoy!!**


	24. Staying

As Isabelle left the room she could hear the screams of the druids echoing off the walls. Her thoughts drifted to exactly what was happening in the dungeons and it made her heart heavy. She had heard what Carlisle said to the others, about even if she hadn't left she would not be who they had known and that was very true. She has lived for 3,000 years through the ancient times. Some of the darkest, cruelest and most primal times on earth, of course that changes a person. Could Edward have helped her not only survive but flourish during those times, she didn't think so. During her travels trying to find her mate she realized how far outside the supernatural norm the Cullen's lived. It was that more than anything that helped her get over her feelings for Edward. Somehow she knew in her gut what she would have to endure as the Keeper and also knew in her heart that Edward did not have what it would take to survive it with her. She recognized that he was still a 17 year old boy and it would kill him to do the things she and Gabriel had to do to survive and to keep their world safe. If he could not come to terms with his feelings about her on his own she would need to need to be 100% honest with him and she knew that had the potential to crush him. She did not want to do that, she cared about the Cullen's and Edward but their relationship had shifted he needed to accept that.

Isabelle returned to her chambers looking for Gabriel to talk about the Cullen's wanting to stay and be trained. She found him by the fireplace holding a picture of them on their wedding day deep in thought. She laid her head on his back, "That was one of the happiest days of my life. We had already been mates for so long and for you to want to declare to the world again that I was yours, I had never in my life felt so loved and our bond deepened. I have never doubted your love for me; please tell me this mood you are in isn't about Edward. If you have begun to doubt my love for you it would break my heart and I need you more than ever now." He pulled her into his lap and kissed her, pouring all of his love and devotion to it. "This is not about him and I have never doubted your love for me. Your love, adoration, pride and faith in me have made me the man I am today. I could never doubt you or your love, I trust in you, in us unconditionally. I suppose I am in this mood because of what is coming. This is the battle we were warned about and have always prepared for. I do not want to lose you or any member of the family and this is the battle that could cause that. I know you feel it too don't deny that." She couldn't deny it and that scared her, so she just nodded her head.

After sitting that way for a while she looked to Gabriel, "I spoke with the Cullen's earlier and they have a few requests." He raised his eyebrow at her for her to continue. "The gave me a list of which vampires they want to call for help, the Denali's, Siobhan's coven, a few nomads and the Volturi. I do not have a problem with that, do you?" He thought for a moment, "No. I think they should all be fine, but do they realize that only the brothers will be on their side? I can't imagine the guard doing against them but they won't be here for the Cullen's." Shaking her head, Isabelle said "I am pretty sure they realize that but at this point they will take whatever help they can get and we should too. They are also talking about which vampires are actively working against them. We are on the same page there thinking it is the Romanians, we will have to come up with a way to deal with them."

"They want permission to stay here for the week and have some weapons training. I know you and the boys will be busy strategizing but I thought perhaps the children could show them the basics. I am not sure I want them training with you guys anyway, they need to be in one piece for the meeting." Gabriel thought for a moment, "I don't have a problem with them staying for the week. Carlisle's help is definitely welcome on figuring out the hybrids. We can have the children train them on the weapons, maybe at the end of the week the adults can do a sparring session with them to see what they have learned. That could prove fun for the boys." Isabelle laughed, "Just be sure it is done in fun and not to teach anyone a lesson. OK?" Gabriel agreed.

"We will need to forge more training weapons; the ones we use in battle could kill them." Isabelle continued. "I also think we need to send either Thorne or Thunder to the Fae. We need to know if we can count on any help at all, which I don't expect and we will need the Sword of Light." At the mention of the sword Gabriel's eyes widened, "Are you sure the sword should be brought out?" "It is the only thing that can kill the Brude's if they are unwilling to help us." she said. Gabriel took her face in his hands, "I know but it is also the only thing that can kill you and the twins." She leaned her head against his, "I think it is a chance we will have to take. The Brude's must be destroyed." He nodded in agreement, "OK. I trust you to keep yourself alive. Now, do you want to tell the Cullen's they can stay or should I do it?" "I'll let you do it. I am sure you will get some fun out of their reactions when you tell them you and the boys will spar with them at the end of the week." she said laughing.

Gabriel kissed her nose and sat her down in the chair, he went to collect Carlisle and tell the Cullen's they could stay. As soon as everyone was in the room Gabriel spoke to Carlisle, "Isabelle showed me the list of vampires you want to call to your aid and they look fine, I believe they will help you or at least not work against you. Remember the Volturi guard will only be loyal to the brothers do not expect them to actively help you unless they are ordered to. She also told me you wish to stay the week at the castle and maybe be trained." The Cullen's all nodded their heads. "That is fine also; your training can begin tomorrow morning with the children. Maybe by the end of the week you will be skilled enough to spar with the adults." Gabriel said with a sparkle in his eyes. At his words all of their eyes went wide. Emmet & Jasper looked excited at the prospect of new training, the women looked apprehensive and Edward looked almost fearful. Edward knew he was the one they would go hardest on and he suspected Gabriel would want to spar with him personally.

"Why wait until tomorrow? It is morning now we could start immediately." asked Jasper. Gabriel shook his head, "We need to forge new training weapons for you to use and that will be done today. Someone will come by to get your measurements so weapons can be made especially for you. The weapons we use in battle are enhanced for lack of a better word. You know a lycan bite will slow down healing in a vampire, and enough bites can kill one. Just as vampire venom is poisonous to the lycans. Over the centuries we have found ways to use that to our advantage in battle. The battle weapons are forged with ground up lycan canines and then coated and hardened with vampire venom. They also have certain spells and blessings protecting them. We have enough vampires and lycans here to supply us with what we need and we will also forge battle weapons for you. The training weapons do not have any of the enhancements I mentioned so they will be safe for everyone to use without causing too much damage to anyone."

"Also by tomorrow morning we should just be doing mind scans on the druids and we will be able to free up someone to act as a blocker for Edward so he can join in on the training also. Unfortunately we can't spare anyone today and I need to talk to the children about what to focus on teaching you first. The rest of you are free to enjoy your day just be sure to stay on Hamilton land. Actually it would probably be a good idea for you to familiarize yourself with the boundaries and where everything especially the rings are located. If the fight comes to us you need to know the safe places and how to call for aid. Once you return Edward can take the information from your minds so he is not behind on anything. If Edward is willingly it would be a good idea to become more familiar with the world you live in. You need to know more about the history of the different Clans. I could have someone deliver some of our books for Edward since he is stuck in here and then he can tell you about what he has learned. I have to say, Isabelle and I are surprised at the things you do not know about our world and its history. Is that acceptable to you Edward?" Edward replied, "Yes. It will be good to do something useful instead of pacing all day. Thank you."

Carlisle returned to the lab while everyone but Edward left to scout the castle, village and land. They needed to know it like the back of their hands and as Carlisle had, finding all the secret passages and tunnels was almost a challenge to them. By the time they were done only the immediate Hamilton family knew the grounds better.

Gabriel had gone to find his wife and family; once everyone was gathered duties for the next week were handed out. Thorne would go to the Fae and request help and the Sword of Light. Haldor & Heidi along with Grim & Jillian would be helping the clan members brush up on their defense and weapon training. Thunder, Iris, Elisabeth, Ruth and  
Catherine would be overseeing the making of the new weapons for the Cullen's. Ingram & Kate, Leif & Mary and Digby would be scanning the prisoners. Michael, Soren and Gabriel would be planning their strategy for the meeting. They had to be prepared for anything to happen. Keldan and Isabelle would be overseeing the children's training of the Cullen's. The children were looking forward to it and could not wait to show the Cullen's and their family what they could do and ran off to plan the morning training session. Gabriel held Anthony back for a moment and told him which books to pull from the library to take to Edward in the secure room.

Once they were alone Gabriel turned to his wife, "You do realize that the Cullen's will need to be told everything before the meeting? We can't ask them to accompany us and not know all the facts; it would be extremely dangerous and unfair." "I know" she said, "I am hoping they learn most of what they need to know in the next 24 hours, then the only thing to discuss is how to save them and us. We are the ultimate target Gabriel, the Cullen's are just the Brude's way of saying the ends will justify the means."


	25. The Week Before

Chapter 24

As Carlisle was in the lab and the others were out getting familiar with the land Edward spent his time reading the books Gabriel had sent. He exchanged the books several times for others and by the time everyone but Carlisle had returned he was shocked at the amount of information they didn't know about their world. He explained about the hierarchy in all of the Clans based on the bloodlines. For vampires the older your bloodline the more likely you were to have a gift, a powerful one, and the harder you would be to kill. You were also much more likely to have a mate who was human, that way you would change them and both are of the same bloodline rather than mixing the blood. The younger bloodlines normally found mates that were already vampires.

He explained that the wolves were the same way. The Lycans being at the top and the oldest, they imprinted and could change their imprints, they also had gifts like the vampires. Werewolves were at the very bottom and did not have mates or gifts and only changed forms at the full moon. Lycans could change whenever they wanted. Lycans actually came about from a wolf that had been injured by an ancient vampire. In the beginning the two clans coexisted nicely, the fallout was over a human woman. The Lycan imprinted on her and she was the singer of a powerful vampire. The Lycan changed her before the vampire could get to her. In retaliation the vampire captured a pack of wolves and inbred them for several generations then infected them with rabies before attacking them and letting them loose on a small village, the result was werewolves and the severing of the two clans. In reality most lycans were disgusted by werewolves and the wolves were tired of being the bottom feeding scum of their clan.

He explained what he could about the Fae and fairies but the books were very vague. It seemed that they had been on earth 10's of thousands of years before humans were even a thought. It was hard to obtain concrete information as they enjoyed sitting back and watching humans instead of interacting with them. But they did seem protective of humans, as was the case when they imprisoned the Brude's. Not much was mentioned about the Brude's either, druids were descended from them and they used dark magic. For some reason Brude women became extinct and they turned to human women, that is the point they decided to imprison humans and rule earth. Once that decision was made the Fae stepped in and imprisoned the 12 remaining Brude's in the underworld. The Fae allowed the druids to live because with only 25 % of the magical power of Brude's they were not seen as a threat.

Druids are essentially human. They can extend their lives with magic but that is all. They do not have bloodlines but the do have a hierarchy that is defined by the level of magic mastery achieved. Over the centuries they have reclaimed much of the magic that was lost but at the cost of their reputation in the world. In their quest for immortality and recognition in the magical world they have done some pretty weird things (wearing real animal heads during ceremonies for example) that exposed them to the human world. Now the human and magical worlds think they are kooks. Druids use quite a bit of dark magic also and this adds to the impression in both worlds that they are crazy and dangerous.

At this point Edward paused and made sure he had everyone's attention, "There are some books I was denied access when I asked for them. In the ones I did read there are vague references to gypsies, berserkers, witches and shifters and books related to them are the ones I was denied. I am guessing the reason they were withheld is because that would give us a lot of information about the Hamilton's. How was exploring the castle and grounds?"

Edward took from their minds all he needed to know about the layout of the grounds, castle and secret passages and tunnels. He turned to Jasper and asked, "What was that part about the villagers practicing with crossbows and sniper rifles?"

"I asked Grim and Haldor about that and was told it is for their protection. They obviously can't kill a vampire or werewolf like we can so the tips and bullets are made with the enhanced metals. They said a shot to the heart or enough arrows can bring them down and kill them. On the off chance that something makes it into the village the clansmen have some hope of protecting themselves. There is also a bullet that has a liquid form of the metal in it, like a hollow point that the snipers use and they are normally placed on the castle roof. Given their reputation and the family's abilities I am surprised they would think someone could get into the village. The lengths they are going to for the villagers show two things; they are not taking anything for granted and whatever is coming for us has the potential to either get past them or is more powerful than they are." Jasper's last statement had them all raising an eye brow in surprise and Edward heard them all resolve in their minds to get as much out of their training as possible.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Esme opened the door to find Keldan on the other side. "We are done with the interrogations and are ready to start your training", he said entering the room. "Your training weapons are ready and waiting along with the children and Isabelle on the training grounds if you would like to follow." As the Cullen's followed him outside he spoke, "Mother and I will be acting as your blockers today and watching to make sure everything goes ok with the training. We will introduce you to the children who will be teaching you but you will not be told any personal information about them except who their parents are so please do not ask." The Cullen's nodded and as they came over the last hill Isabelle was standing with the same 12 children from before, 8 boys and 4 girls, all with swords secured on their backs.

"Good Morning", Isabelle said greeting them. "The children will be training you; they will be going over the weapons with you and helping you to pick a weapon of choice for an actual fight. Do not let their gender, size or apparent age fool you, each of them are deadly and very skilled. All but the youngest two are actually older than all of you and the youngest two are only younger than Carlisle. There are younger ones but they are not skilled enough to train anyone yet, however they may come and offer guidance or support. It may sound strange but listen to them if they do, they may appear to be younger than 10 but they have watched the Executioners do these exact drills for decades."

"Let's start the introductions. They all know who you are so we have William & Vera -Michael's kids, Anthony, Edgar, & Anne - Leif's kids, Richard & Jonathon - Soren's children, Grim's twins - Peter & Paul, Samantha & James - Haldor's kids and Victoria - Ingram's daughter. William & Anthony are in charge of the training but each of them has their own specialty. You will be starting with wooden training swords. A dagger and a sword will be forged for each of you as well as your weapon of choice. You will have a choice of a broadsword or a claymore for your sword and the other weapons to choose from are a mace, axe or a second sword. Any hand to hand combat requires that mouthpieces be worn to prevent an accidental bite. Keldan and I will be watching from the hill - good luck." With that Keldan and Isabelle retreated to watch the children teach 6 vampires an entertaining lesson.

Entertaining it was. It took 2 hours for Emmett, Jasper and Edward to get past the fact they were sparring with girls who looked to be 13 and kept swatting them on the butt with their swords much to the amusement of everyone else. After a few hours they demonstrated the axe and mace then moved on to hand to hand. The Cullen's picked up quickly but it was a full day and a half before they could give the children a true fight.

Things continued on for 2 more days; the Cullen's training, Carlisle in the lab and the Hamilton's fulfilling their duties until the call came they had been waiting for. The Council meeting was set for Saturday at 5:00 pm; they would be contacted again about the location. Gabriel called everyone together, "We have 3 days left before the meeting so there are 2 days left to prepare, we will leave on Friday once we know the location. We will meet again on Thursday evening to discuss strategy for the meeting and give out assignments for when we are there. Also on Thursday, Carlisle, we will go over all the tests and scans of the druids and hybrids as well as answer any other questions you still have. You will need to call your vampire allies and be sure they are ready to move on Friday, we need them as witnesses when something happens at the meeting. Lastly, I have heard from Isabelle how well your training is going. I talked to the boys and they agreed to have a sparring session with you all on Thursday morning, you will get to chose who you spar with. It should be fun, be sure to bring your A game."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

**Please read & review!!**


	26. Preparations

The next 36 hours seemed to fly by and everyone was preparing for the meeting. The clansmen had heard that the Cullen's would be sparring with the Hamilton's today. As the sun broke the mountaintop on Thursday morning the hills surrounding the training grounds were already packed full of people who wanted to watch. Most were there to root for the Hamilton's but some held signs cheering on the Cullen's, they were the ones who could not help but root for the underdog. All matches would be with training swords or hand to hand combat. You had to pin your opponent for 10 seconds to win and if you had a gift you could use it. Everyone was warned this is real and no mercy is to be shown. Emmett was up first.

He had chosen to fight Soren because he was a full berserker and Emmett had never seen one before arriving here let alone fight one. As Soren stalked onto the field towards Emmett he began rethinking his decision. As Soren slipped deeper into berserkergang he was growing. When he stopped he was a foot taller, appeared to have gained 50 lbs and moved like a cat - game on. They circled each other a few times waiting for the other to strike. The entire match lasted 56 seconds. Soren disarmed Emmett on his second swing, pinned him and then sat on his chest. Soren was smug, Emmett was shocked and then angry as he left the field.

Jasper had chosen Grim and they were almost an even match. Grim was able to disarm him within 45 seconds but hand to hand was where Jasper excelled. He managed to almost pin Grim twice before he found himself pinned in a move so fast all Jasper saw was a blur. Jasper jumped up and he was pissed, "Have you just been toying with us, with me?" Grim looked at him, "No and actually at 4 minutes 17 seconds that is the longest I have ever sparred with someone who was not a member of my immediate family. I actually was fighting with you at my normal strength but the speed of the creatures you will be fighting. After the second time you almost pinned me I realized I needed to step up my game to win and there was no way I was going to lose. I would never hear the end of it. You should be proud of yourself, you did very well."

Esme wanted to go next and she had chosen Iris because she was a vampire. Esme was tentative going against her and everyone could see it. Esme was not a fighter, until Iris began to taunt her. "We are here to take your family from you. You are too weak to protect yourself let alone your family. They will die and you will watch because you don't have what it takes to save them. You will be forced to watch as I take your mate and make him beg for mercy before I tear his hea..." At that statement Esme let out a feral growl and pounced on her. She was able to wrestle Iris to ground for a few seconds before she was thrown off and pinned 30 seconds later. As she was getting up Iris said, "You did well Esme your anger both works for and against you. You need to harness that rage and control it so that it fuels your rage but don't let it distract you from what is happening around you."

Rosalie stepped out next and had chosen Jillian thinking it would be an even fight. She knew Jillian was a shifter and both times Rose had seen her shift into a falcon so she didn't think she would have an advantage. Her fight was over even faster than Emmett's, she lasted 33 seconds. Jillian shifted into a falcon and while Rose stood under her with a smug look on her face she shifted into a Siberian tiger and knocked Rose to the ground. Once Rose was on her back Jillian shifted back into human form and pinned her. Rose was pissed, "Get off of me! How dare you, you bitch, fight fair." With that statement Jillian cut her off, "Bitch is it. You were told in the beginning to use a gift if you had it. I have one and I used it. You are the one who had a smug superior look on your face thinking I could only shift into one form. You all need to understand that you do not know your opponents as well as you think you do. Take nothing at face value and expect anything. You, Rose, need to learn that you are not the most important person in a room and people will not bow down to you just because you wish it."

That left Edward and Alice. Edward decided to go next and he was glad he got to choose because he had no intention of fighting Gabriel. He knew the highlander had something to prove and would drag out his beating more than necessary. He chose Leif because both times Leif had spoken of Edward's feelings for Isabelle it had been with compassion. He was praying that some of that compassion would be used in this fight. He should have known better. He lasted longer than Emmett but not as long as Jasper at 2 minutes 6 seconds and only because he was a mind reader. Leif spoke after let him up, "I know why you picked me and it was a sound strategy, however, in a true battle you will not have a choice of who you fight. Remember Edward in battle if you want to win compassion is never shown, never."

Alice was the last one out and she had chosen Heidi because she knew she came out fine in the end if she did. She couldn't see the fight but she knew this would give her the best outcome. It was comical, even the Cullen's were laughing. Heidi walked out onto the field looking at Alice holding her sword and starting murmuring the spells she would need. First she had Alice lay down her sword, and then Alice lay down on the ground shouting "I surrender" and after the 10 seconds Alice got up, picked up her sword and resumed the stance she had before. Alice was looking at Heidi and said, "Well, are you ready to start?" Heidi laughed and said, "It's over and lasted all of 27 seconds." Alice stood there with her mouth open as Heidi went to rejoin her family. Once she reached them the clan sent up cheers that they had won.

Carlisle and Thorne walked towards the field gaining Gabriel's attention. Carlisle spoke first saying, "Everything is done and the results are on your desk waiting for you." "Thank you, Carlisle." He replied and then turned to his son asking, "Were you able to get it?" Thorne nodded, "Yes and I also took a phone call about the Council meeting. It is to be held in the Nevada desert in the United States. They are faxing a map of the exact location." Gabriel looked at Isabelle, "This is not good, I wonder who picked the location." He then turned address the Cullen's, "You all did well for a first sparring match with us. Your battle weapons are done and will be delivered to you. Use the time before the meeting tonight to get used to them and practice. We will discuss our findings and theories with you at that time. Have a good day."

Sunset found the Hamilton's and Cullen's gathered around the table in the solar with all sorts of papers spread out on it. Isabelle stood, picked up a stack of papers and put them in the middle of the table. "These are the test results from the hybrids. They are genetically engineering them with the human girls that were taken. They are mixing everything lycan/vampire, druid/lycan, vampire/voodoo, voodoo/werewolf, druid/werewolf, druid/witch the list goes on and on. The DNA types recognized are: druid, werewolf, vampire, lycan, voodoo, gypsy, witch, shifter and perhaps the most troubling demon. The demon DNA means they have pulled something from the underworld besides Brude's. It appears the only type they haven't acquired is fae and berserker. Some of them are fairly evenly mixed but others were definitely bred for a certain trait, either strength or intelligence. They have all been given growth hormones to a point, but the ones bred for strength were given more and they are also more aggressive. That seems to be the only drawback to the hormones their aggressiveness. They werewolves are teaching them to fight and as much as it sickens me to admit this, they are building themselves quite the newborn army. If there are not any questions let's move on to who is behind this."

She looked around the table to be sure no one had questions then continued. "First you need to understand about Brude's. When Earth was young is when the Fae and Brude's arrived. They got along well with each other and around the time humans arrived other creatures did also, demons. The demons were savages and started killing the humans. The Fae and Brude's joined together to banish the demons to the underworld. Millennia passed and there were only small problems until the Inca's. The Fae were happy sitting back and observing humanity but not the Brude's any big jump in technology is because of them. They reached a point where they wanted to make the humans slaves to them but then the Brude women became extinct because so few were born and they started forcefully taking human women that is when the Fae stepped in. It took a decade but the Fae were finally able to banish all 12 of the remaining Brude's to the underworld. They have not been happy there and have been trying to escape every since. Most of the really weird things the Druids have done over the centuries are ceremonies they preformed trying to let the Brude's out."

Isabelle took her seat by Gabriel at the table, "Now it is time to discuss who is behind this and the real reason why they are doing this to your coven Carlisle." She laid her hand on top of Gabriel's and he continued, "We are the ultimate target Carlisle, your coven is just the catalyst to start the process. When Isabelle gives her report stating that you are innocent is when we expect the charges to be brought against her and the Guardians of being biased and protecting a guilty coven. They will use the fact that she personally marked you and we are sure by now they know about her relationship with you all when she was human. It will be used to discredit and turn the clans against her. The Guardians have settled most disputes between the clans without blood shed and if they are out of the way the clans will quickly war with each other. Because the Volturi insisted that she investigate I am sure the ones behind this are ready to strike against them too. When Emmett's memories are activated is when we will know they are prepared to act. My best guess as to how they want this to happen is like this. Isabelle would say you are innocent, someone brings up about her connection to you and then Emmett's memories are activated and either he or another member of your coven would give something away about his memory and he would be forced to admit he did it. At that point the accuser would be proven right, the Guardians would be held and possibly punished at that time but that is not what is going to happen."

The Cullen's were stunned. They had no idea what to say to anything they had heard. Carlisle spoke first, "Why now? Who is behind this? Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to set this up, what if it doesn't work? What then?"

Gabriel raised his hand so Carlisle would stop for a moment. "The first question is easy. Why now, because people are starting to believe again. Not as much as in the middle ages but mystical things are starting to be 'in' again and with that in mind if this plan doesn't work they will just continue to fan the flames of discourse in the human world until they find a plan that does work. In the meantime if the clans are fighting amongst themselves then it makes less fighting they will have to due later to gain control of everything. The ultimate prize in this game is Earth, our place in the world and who rules."

"Who is behind this? The Brude's are the final puppet masters of this but there are several layers to get to them. They are using the Druids and their magic to come and go from the underworld. They are using the werewolves as the muscle and guard dogs for the girls. Druids and werewolves are seen as the bottom of the mythical world. They can only go up and I am sure have been promised much for their help and were stupid enough to believe whatever they were promised. The Romanian vampires are also closely involved in this plot and they want to rule the remaining vampires when this is done and are willing to report to the Brude's. One of the Lycan clans is also involved, although at this time we are unsure which one it is either the French or the Russians. But we are sure it is one of them and they are responsible for keeping the hybrid's in line. The leader of the clan involved will take over and rule the Lycans, while reporting to the Brude's. If the Brude's win they will imprison the humans and maybe some other creatures so they can rule openly. The world as we now know it would be over. The Brude's are dark vicious creatures who have no regard for anyone else. Just as they came to Earth they are capable of leaving it once it has been used up, however with today's technology they could also take prisoners with them and move on to destroy another planet. The Fae have said they will not step in again, that we have everything we need to defeat them forever and that is what we plan to do. We have a strategy that includes your coven but before we get into that we need to ask and make sure all of you are in. This is a not a choice to be taken lightly, understand that some of us at this table may not survive it. If you need time to discuss this amongst yourselves we understand but if you want to help us we need to know very soon."

Carlisle looked at his family and they all nodded to him. "We are all in" he said, "We have nothing to lose by doing this and everything to gain. We would not be able to stand by and let something take over Earth. What is the strategy?"

"Good, then let's get down to business" Gabriel said pulling out a map of the world. "First, we will need to call the Volturi. While the brothers are required at the meeting their entire guard is not permitted. We want to send them to take care of the Romanians. Once Aro is told the entire plot I am sure he will not object. Next, we want to send Siobhan's coven and your nomad allies to South America to eliminate the werewolves at the compound where the girls are being held. They can drop the girls off in the closest major city. No one but the human women are to get out alive, this must be stressed to them. Are you alright asking this of your allies Carlisle?"

"Yes, I am fine with it. Especially if I can explain more of what is happening to them I am sure they will help." "That's fine" Gabriel said, "The phones here are secure with the first call just ask them to start moving south and when it is to late for it to matter you can call back and tell them exactly what to do. The Denali Coven needs to meet us in Nevada and we will explain then what they are needed for to them."

"Normally when I go to a council meeting I just take 2-3 Guardians with me but for this one they will all be accompanying me." Isabelle stated. "This will immediately make people wonder what is happening and I have no intention of explaining. Now, Leif and Digby will be leading the group going to London to take care of the Druid's there. That is where the largest gathering of them is located and they will also be in position to keep an eye on Stonehenge. Michael & Grimm will go to Siberia and lead the group against the werewolves left there; I expect most of werewolves to be somewhere near the council meeting. Ruth has assured me that the gypsies will take care of the wolves left in Romania. Ingram and Keldan will be going to New Orleans to take care of the voodoo priestesses and Thunder will be staying here to protect the clan. That leaves Gabriel, Soren, Haldor and Thorne to go with us to the meeting, as well as all the Cullen's."

"We are less sure of how things will go at the actual meeting because we don't yet know who will be there." Gabriel continued. "Isabelle will go to the meeting with Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Rosalie as well as all the Guardians with the exception of Kate. They will get the feel of things from who is there and hopefully deep listening to them. Be prepared at all times to defend yourselves. If asked, Soren, Kate and I are bringing the rest of the Cullen's and will arrive in time before the actual meeting starts. In reality we will split up at the Nevada border; Edward & Soren will approach from the north, Haldor & Jasper from the east, Alice and I will come from the south and Thorne and Kate from the west. What we need is information; who is out there, where are they and how many are there and what is their plan? We will meet up with each other and the Denali's in Reno 6 hours before the meeting is due to start. Once we have more information we can figure out how to proceed."

"Are there any questions?" Isabelle asked. "OK. We leave in 5 hours so be sure you are ready. Go hunt if you need to, we will put the flag up signaling the Cullen's are in the woods. Be on the training fields in 5 hours the helicopters will take us to the airport for your flight to Las Vegas."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

**Read & Review**


	27. Traveling

Carlisle made the calls to the Denali's, Siobhan & their nomad friends and they agreed to do what was needed. The Cullen's went to hunt and anyone who was not going to the meeting started traveling to meet up with their group. When they were all in place Isabelle would give the order to attack. It had to by synchronized they couldn't afford for a call to be placed warning the others about the attacks.

Two helicopters took the remaining Hamilton's and Cullen's to the private airport in Wick. Everyone boarded the Hamilton's private jet to make the trip to Las Vegas. Isabelle had plugged her cell phone into one of the laptops. Two hours into the flight she started receiving texts, first was Leif then the gypsies, the Volturi and Michael all with a 3 word text - good to go. It would be a few hours before the last two came in, they had the furtherest to travel.

Gabriel was in the front of the plane discussing possible strategies with his sons, the Guardians were discussing who would be watching which group at the meeting and the Cullen's were struggling to remain calm and keep up with everything. Vampire mind or not all of them except Jasper were way out of their comfort zone getting ready to do battle. In the organized chaos no noticed Edward approach Isabelle until he spoke, "May I speak with you for a moment please Isabelle?" Everyone looked to the front of the plane, the Executioners had stilled over their map and Gabriel was in the process of turning around and staring at Edward.

"Now is not the time to do this Edward. I told you after this is over we can discuss what happens but now everyone needs to focus no the task at hand." Isabelle stated. She did not need to look at Gabriel to know he was very close to snapping.

"I understand but..." Isabelle interrupted him as she stood to walk away, "No Edward. You are on dangerous ground now, let this drop until later." As she passed him Alice yelled "Grabbed him!" Jasper & Emmett jumped to grab Edward from behind but they were too late. Gabriel had seen him stretch out his hand to grab Isabelle's arm and had Edward pinned by his throat to the floor before the Cullen's even moved.

Rage was rolling off of Gabriel, "She has warned you not to touch her. She has given you warnings and been more than patient with you. That ends now! I see how you look at her and I know what you are thinking, I can smell the difference in your scent when you think about her. SHE IS MINE! I will not give her up you need to accept this right now or I will beat it into you. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Edward was trying to answer but was unable to move. Isabelle's sons were standing behind their father not egging him on but not helping any either. The Cullen's were trying to diffuse the situation and the Guardians had walked to the back of the plane to wait out all the drama.

Gabriel continued as if it was just he and Edward on the plane. "I know you never believed or had enough faith in her when she was a human to trust her to make choices on her own. You need to talk to your family and the empath and understand that when she says she won't leave me she means SHE WON'T LEAVE ME. SHE LOVES ME! You need to believe this and stay away from her. Everyone heard her tell you no if you initiate contact with her again know it will be the last thing you ever do. I have reached my limit with you." Having said that his fist connected with Edward's nose and the sound of it breaking stunned the Cullen's. As Edward tried to rise from the floor Gabriel went to find his wife.

Edward could hear his family yelling at him in his mind. They thought he was crazy. "I reached for her without thinking. I just wanted her to listen to me and not walk away." Carlisle was furious, "How many times have I told you to leave her alone. You forgot? You are a vampire and we don't forget things Edward. From now on one of us will always be with you. You will not be given the chance for this to happen again. When you are near Isabelle Jasper and Emmett must be with you and I am mean right beside you to prevent this from happening again. You got what you wanted when we left her Edward, she moved on. Do not hold that against her or him. You must learn to live with your actions, starting right now!"

When Isabelle and Gabriel rejoined the Cullen's Edward was sulking between Jasper and Emmett and Carlisle was trying to appease a still pissed off Overseer. Gabriel laughed when he noticed money changing hands between his sons and some were arguing they didn't think the bet had been decided yet. When Isabelle heard this she knew enough was enough, she stood and taking her mate's hand moved to sit facing Edward.

"I did not want to have to do this because I know the amount of pain this will cause you. But I think it is necessary if there is hope to avoid you being shredded and burned. I am going to fully open mine and Gabriel's mind to you so you can see the extent of the bond between us. I do not mean to hurt you and I need you to know I do realize exactly how much this hurts. It is what I felt when you left me in the forest but you need to move past this and go on." With that being said Isabelle opened her mind fully to Edward.

Edward was shocked by what he saw and felt. He saw the moment in Heathrow when he turned away from Bella and she decided it was time to put her whole heart into the search, her and Gabriel's first meeting when their berserker blood called to each other and he saw their wedding when the bond deepened. He could feel his mind in hers and how they were intertwined and he had never felt anything like it. He saw that bond grow as each son was born, he saw Gabriel risk his life for hers in battle and her risk hers from him also and through it all he could see and feel their bond grow. He understood that it would literally kill her to lose Gabriel. There would be no way to separate their minds and souls without taking part of the other with it. They were like two trees twined together that had scarred over and were now sharing bark. To kill one kills the other.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Edward begged, "I get it, I really do. I understand I brought this on myself and I have thought a lot about what we discussed the other day and you were right about most things. I am trying to reign myself in but it is very hard. Please give me the chance to prove I can do this and just be a friend to you and your family."

Gabriel was the one to answer his plea, "As Isabelle has said after this is finished we will discuss what type of place you can have in our lives. You are forcing yourself on her by not listening and respecting her wishes. Do not do that again, you will not get off as easy next time and Isabelle will not stop me either."

Isabelle's cell phone buzzed and they looked at the laptop, the last 2 groups were in position. She typed in the command, Attack - no prisoners, looked up to her mate and hit send. "It is starting" she announced to the group. "Now we need to discuss what will happen when we land. The ones not going directly to the meeting already have their orders and will meet up with the Denali's 6 hours before the meeting starts. Keep in mind that one of Jasper's tracking devices is active but none of the others have been activated yet."

"For the ones going to the meeting with me, we need to break down who will watch which groups so we are ready. I expect there to be at least one Brude so Mary will keep an eye on that and his location at all times. Catherine & Elisabeth will keep watch on the Lycan's, pay close attention to the Russian and French Canadian groups that is where we expect the trouble to come from. Ruth & Heidi will be on the Druids; this is where we hope most of the information will come from. Jillian & Iris will be with me. Jillian will shift as needed to spy or transport information as needed. We will need to cautiously alert our allies at the meeting to what is happening and find out if they will assist us or not. Kate, please go get the bracelets and bring them out. Does everyone remember the signal?" The Guardians all nodded as they put the cuffs on their right wrists. "Be sure to check in with everyone every couple of hours. If something goes wrong we act fast and keeping the Cullen's safe is priority number 1. With that in mind they must have one of us with them at all times. If we are forced to act any werewolf or druid is fair game but we hold off on the others until we know you exactly who is involved."

Carlisle was looking at the cuffs, "May I ask how they work?" Heidi was the one to answer, "When worn on the right wrist it means everything is OK regardless of the color of the stone. The stone works like mood rings used to work but more accurate. What you need to know is the darker the stone is the closer we are to acting and when the cuff is switched to the left wrist it means an attack is imminent."

"We're landing." Gabriel said standing. "Those going to the meeting will be taking the bus inside the hangar, they rest of us will be going on foot." As the jet moved into the hangar he took Isabelle's hand and exited the plane. Walking over to the bus he pulled her to him, kissed her soundly and murmured, "You are my life. I became whole the day I met you and you will bring yourself back to me unharmed. 3,000 years with you is not nearly long enough. Come back to me, whatever it takes." "I will" she whispered back placing her hand over his heart, "whatever it takes. I love you, my heart, my soul, my Gabriel." She boarded the bus and as they pulled out of the hangar she knew this was the battle they had trained all these years for and prayed she would still have everyone she loved when it was over.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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	28. Meeting Part 1

As Gabriel watched the bus pull away he turned to the group, "Thorne, you and Kate go ahead and sift to 50 miles west of the meeting place. Everyone else start at 50 miles out from the direction you are due to come in from. This needs to be done quickly but quietly also, we will meet the Denali's in Reno in 3 hours."

As Gabriel's group was doing recon, the bus was pulling up to the mansion. "What is this place?" Emmett asked. "It is one of the places the Council holds meetings. It is built into the mountain. The front that is showing holds the Council's chambers, inside the mountain there are wings for each Clan. The Guardians have a suite in the front part and you will be staying with us. Be careful where you explore most of the Clans do not like outsiders in their wing." Isabelle explained. "However, we should be able to pick up a lot of information from the people in the common areas."

As the bus stopped Isabelle stood up and looking out the window said, "This is not good. Carlisle remain on the bus until I signal you to come out. Ladies we have a welcoming party. Let's go greet them, weapons visible." With those words the daggers and swords the Cullen's had no idea they were wearing became visible. Isabelle moved to the bus door followed by the Guardians to greet the Council Elders waiting for them. "Aro, Gregory, Thomas it is good to see you as well as the other council members. I see everyone has decided to attend this meeting."

"Yes, they have. Are you surprised by that Isabelle?" Aro asked. "Enough of this bring the Cullen's to the holding cells." Gregory interrupted. Gregory as the head of the Lycan Clan was one of the Council Elders and he expected his orders to be followed. "No" Isabelle stated, "We were asked to investigate the Cullen's and they are under our care. They will stay with us until the accusations are resolved, one way or the other."

"You dare to contradict me?" Gregory snarled stepping closer to her. "I suggest you get your anger in check." Isabelle growled back as the Guardians stepped closer to her. "I do not answer to you and you need to remember that. We are involved in this at the request of the vampires. Now move aside so we can pass." As she went to walk past him he grabbed her arm attracting the attention of everyone. "You need to remember your place as a guest here Keeper." As the Guardians hands moved to the hilt of their swords Isabelle placed her hand on top his and removed it saying, "And you need to remember exactly who you are dealing with Gregory." Isabelle signaled the Cullen's to get off the bus and they entered the mansion surrounded by Guardians going directly to the suite.

Upon entering the suite Isabelle looked at the Guardians, "Mary do you sense anything?"

"There is not one here at the mansion but judging by the feelings I am getting I think there are 2 close by." Mary responded. "OK then let me know if they start moving closer. Jillian go ahead and shift then just hang out around the different wings and see what you can pick up. Catherine see if you can find out anything from the Lycans, we really need to know if it is Jean Luc's or Nikolas's sect in on this. Heidi and Ruth see if you can get anything from the Druids, expect them to be on edge so pry carefully. Elisabeth and Iris will escort Carlisle and the others to Aro and find out if anyone associated with the Romanians is here." After giving her orders she looked at everyone as they filed out to hopefully collect information.

Isabelle pulled out her laptop and accessed the encrypted e-mail program. She needed updates on how everything else was going and the only safe way to do that here was with the e-mail program the Guardians had designed. Siobhan and the nomads had checked in and the girls in South America were currently on their way home and the vampires were going back to Ireland. Michael & Grim's group had no problem with the wolves in Siberia and had moved over to help the Gypsies in Romania. The wolves always complained they wanted to be the same as the lycans but in reality they couldn't hold their own against them, especially in a fight. Leif and Digby had no problem with the Druids in London because most of them were not there. They took care of the ones that were and now were on a plane to Las Vegas. There was nothing from Ingram & Keldan and she was hoping Carlisle would come back with something from the Volturi.

Gabriel's cell phone beeped just as he and Alice entered Reno on their way to meet up with the others. He read Isabelle's message and turned Alice, "Everything is going as planned so far. I hope the others had better luck than we did." "So do I," Alice said as her mind drifted back to a conversation she and Gabriel had.

_"I need to thank you for being as patient as you have with Edward. Jasper has talked to me about what he feels coming off you and Isabelle. He has never felt anything like it and sometimes he said it was almost like feeling one person instead of two."_

_"Alice, it is hard to explain a normal berserker bond but because Isabelle is also of the bloodline it magnifies things 100 times. There are times, when the bond is fully open, that we are one person and that deepens our bond even more. I understand Edward's predicament. He thought he was leaving her to have a normal human life and then when he finds her again, this is what he finds. But the fact is she has everything he wished for her except for being human. There is a reason people say be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. To be honest I don't see how he could have ever left her. I know what his excuses are and that is just what they are - excuses. He never understood her properly, if he had he would have trusted her. Had he trusted her he never would have tried making decisions for her and forced her to live with the consequences of his actions. Even now he is trying to make her do things his way. She has repeatedly asked him to wait until this is resolved but he keeps trying to force the issue of what he can be to her instead of doing as she has requested."_

_"I know and we have tried talking to him about this but he won't listen. You need to understand that Edward is ..."_

_"I do understand Edward, trust me Alice. Let me ask you the only question that should matter. Do you think she loves me and is happy with me and the life we have built?"_

_"She is obviously very much in love with you and looks as if she enjoys the life you all have very much."_

_"Then let me ask you this. Could Edward have led this life with her? I think your coven, or at least Edward, is operating with the assumption that we live this life because of me, because I am the Overseer. That is not the case, she was destined to be the Keeper and her mate whoever that may have been was to be the Overseer. We live this life and fight these battles because of who she is not me. Could Edward have done this with her? Could your family have lived this life to be with her? Everything was explained when we found each other and I made an informed choice to do this with her, she is worth it, she has always been worth it. If it had been Edward who had to make the choice, would he have chosen to do this with her? I honestly don't think he would have stayed with her this long. I do not think he could have handled the fighting and killing of creatures that we have done. Think of the times we have lived through Alice, they are still some of the most violent times in human history. They were also very violent times in the supernatural world. She takes her job and protecting the humans very seriously and is not going to give it up anytime soon. Find the answers to those questions Alice, then help Edward to move past her. He needs to let her go."_

"We are here and so are the others." Gabriel said to Alice pulling her out of the memory.

Jasper introduced the Denali's to the Hamilton's before they got down to business. "What did you find to the north, Soren?" Gabriel asked his son. "We came across the wolves. It is the Russians, they are the ones working with the druids. Nikolas must be at the meeting but I recognized his second in command and the pack is definitely Russian. There appear to be 10-15 lycans and 50-60 wolves. I couldn't find any trace of the French Canadians so I don't think they know anything about the plot. Edward was able to get more from their minds. Right, Edward?"

"Yes, I was." Edward answered. "They plan to attack after Emmett's memories are recalled. They think in the confusion of that and the Guardians being accused they can take control of the meeting. At least one Brude will be there to take control of things. They have no problems killing the Council but would prefer that they accept the Brude rule, that way there won't be chaos in the Clans. The exception is the Lycans, Nikolas plans on killing those above him in the hierarchy, so he can lead them. It is not clear what they plan on doing with the Guardians. In one moment it seems as if they will try to force them to work for the Brudes and in the next they are eager to kill them. What they have planned for Isabelle if she is captured...."

At that Gabriel's eyes flashed ice blue and he appeared to grow right before them as he bellowed "What! They will die before they touch her. Those vile creatures think to use her that way - NEVER." Thorne and Kate had pulled the others back and stood in front of them in a protective stance. Haldor's eye went blue and he stepped up beside his father to hold him back saying to Edward, "Whatever you are thinking change it. I can't calm him down if you are thinking about what they want to do to my mother. He is deep listening to you change your thoughts to something you have seen of them together recently." With that Haldor started speaking to his father in Old Gaelic and judging by the smiles on all of the Hamilton's faces it had to do with revenge for the wolves' thoughts on hurting Isabelle. The Cullen's and Denali's watched in fascination as Gabriel & Haldor's eyes went back to a more natural color and their size also returned to normal. Gabriel turned to Thorne and asked, "Do you have the sword or does your mother?" Thorne responded, "I have it on me now." "Good. I think we will need it soon." Looking Kate in the eye Gabriel said, "You need to be very careful. If they figure out what you really are you will be taken. You would be a prize beyond what even Isabelle is, understand?" "Yes, I understand the risks." Kate answered as everyone else looked on in confusion.

"Let's move on" Gabriel stated harshly, "Thorne did you and Kate encounter anything in the west." "Yes, we ran into the vampires. There are only 50-75, it will not be hard to take care of them. I am actually surprised we found that many here. Stephen is here but Vladimir is not, we need to find out if he was in Romania or at the meeting." Turning his attention to Kate, Gabriel inquired, "Have you felt anything of the Brudes?" "I felt something as we were running, but once we reached our start point in the west I couldn't feel them. I am guessing it is just one or two and they are probably in the east. That explains why the feeling went away and then got stronger the closer we got to the mansion. I do not think they are at the mansion, the feeling was already fading by the time we ran past its location."

"OK. That leaves Haldor & Jasper, I assume you came across the druids?" Gabriel asked. "Yes." Haldor answered. "They are camped in the east, it is the Druids and the hybrids. I assume there is at least one Brude but I didn't see one. There are 40-50 Druids and about 100 hybrids. Also, they have formed a ring and I picked up human scents. I believe they will try to bring forth more Brudes to help their cause."

"They have larger numbers than we expected them to." Gabriel said talking more to himself than the group. "Kate will escort Jasper, Alice and Edward to the meeting. They will have to be there to face the Council and judgment. It would raise suspicions if they weren't. We will need to all go to one group at a time and destroy them. I have been receiving texts from Isabelle and while the other Executioners are on the way here they will not arrive in time to help us with this. Hopefully they will be here in time to help at the meeting."

"First, we all move to take care of the vampires. Including the Denali's it will 9 against 50-75, but we will have the element of surprise and with 3 berserkers and a fae it is very doable. Remember go directly for the head, we can rip them apart after they have been decapitated. From there we go to the lycans & wolves, the Denali's will have to be careful a bite could kill you. Once again go for the immediate kill, remove their heads. If there is time before they start moving we will go for the Druids but we may have to wait for them to move on the mansion. We have to get the Brudes and I do not expect them to show themselves until the meeting. Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads no.

Gabriel continued, "Kate, be sure you tell Isabelle everything when you arrive. She especially needs to know the numbers of everything out here and the order we will be attacking them in." Kate nodded and picked up her pack. She took out a bag of salt, a thermos and a chalice, "Everyone but Edward, Alice and Jasper form a tight circle." She walked around the circle 3 times pouring the salt saying, "_Within in this circle are the ones who fight for light. Their path is treacherous, as dark as the night. With increased speed, strength and sight enhance their abilities. As I will so mote it be." _As she finished the wind started to pick up and she reached for the chalice pouring the blood from the thermos in it. She reached across the salt handing it Gabriel saying, "Each of you need to drink from it. _This blood is a gift of the pure and true. Given freely this blood is the gift of life. From bite and claw and magic it will keep you safe. Fight with purpose and a true heart and nothing you do will you rue. Know that you now walk with the Guardians and possess all they can do. Blessed are these few who stand for the world. Go with God. Be safe."_

Everyone looked at Kate wondering what had just happened as the wind died down. "Did you just do what I think you did?" Gabriel asked. "It was Isabelle's idea. You now possess the strengths of all the Guardians except Isabelle. Her blood kept messing up the mix. You should now be able to live through lycan bites, resist druid magic and anything else they can throw at you. You can still be ripped apart and killed but it will be much harder to do. We have given you the strongest protection spell we can. Use it wisely. Good Luck." With that Kate left to escort the Cullen's to the mansion.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

**Please read & review!!!**


	29. Meeting Part 2

While the Guardians were out gathering information Isabelle was in the suite forming a strategy for the actual meeting. She received a text from Michael, the wolves in Romania were no longer a threat and they were on their way to Nevada. She had picked up some thoughts from Gabriel and he was worried. He was keeping the specifics from her but she was sure it had to do with the numbers they would be up against. She sent messages to Michael & Leif to not come to the mansion but to find their father and help him once they landed.

She glanced at the cuff on her right wrist and it was starting to darken. Someone had found something and it was not good. Her phone beeped, Ingram & Keldan were on their way from New Orleans. There had been problems but the situation was handled and she replied back to them to find Gabriel upon landing in Vegas. She was just standing to find the girls when Kate walked in with the Edward, Jasper & Alice. She could tell by the looks on their faces things were not as good as they had hoped. Isabelle sent messages to the rest of the Guardians to return to the suite, the meeting would be starting in one hour.

Once everyone had assembled Kate explain what they had found surrounding the mansion and the order that the different clans would be attacked. "Did you do the circle and give them the blood?" Isabelle asked. "Yes I did." Kate answered. "Gabriel was shocked but it is the best chance we can give them until some of us can go help. I don't think they will need it until the Druids. They should be able to handle the other two without a problem." "Well the rest of the boys are on their way. Ingram & Keldan may get here in time to help. I do not think the others will arrive until the fighting is underway." Isabelle responded.

"Elisabeth, were you able to get anything from the Volturi about the Romanians?" Isabelle questioned. "Aro said it had been taken care of. I did see Vladimir in the halls and he had 3 other vampires with him. According to Aro the most anyone has seen him with is 5, so they should be easy to pick off. The Volturi want to do that personally. Aro plans on having some of his guards close to them at all times so when it starts they will immediately deal with them." Elisabeth answered. "Good. Then we don't have to worry about the vampires, they will take care of themselves. Catherine, what about the Lycans? Kate said the group outside the mansion is Russian. Is there any reason to believe Jean-Luc is in on it as well?"

"No, as far as I can tell it is just the Russians. Nikolas has brought as many lycans inside as he is allowed - 25. He plans on having 6 inside the council chamber with him. Again the max number he is allowed. I did pick up on whisperings of the secret tunnels. I am guessing that is how he plans on bringing more in and the wolves of course." Catherine answered. "Judging by our welcoming committee there is no reason to approach Gregory." Isabelle started. "He is not going to believe anything we say so we say nothing and hope he doesn't get involved when the fighting starts. Besides he only has his normal guard of 7 with him. Ruth, Heidi, tell me what you could get from the Druids?"

Heidi answered, "Thomas is feeling very proud and full of himself. He has also brought in the maximum allowed at 25 will be taking 6 into the chamber with him. On one hand it is hard to believe that he truly thinks we are unable to figure everything out but on the other I think they are getting their attitude from the Brude's who have always had a low opinion of women. They also plan on using the tunnels to get more people in the mansion." Isabelle thought for a moment, "On some level they think we have solved some of the puzzle. Magic is humming in the air and I assume they have put some sort of protection on their clan, to bad it won't save them. Jillian, were you able to..."

Isabelle stopped with a gasp and grabbed her right shoulder, "Gabriel!" she almost whispered. "It is starting, they are fighting the vampires. We must leave soon for the meeting. Jillian what did you find out?" "The lesser clans have sensed that something is happening. Only an idiot wouldn't feel the tension in the air but from what I heard being discussed they plan on stepping back and just observing what will happen." Jillian continued, "When the fighting starts in the chamber I believe they will step aside and not enter into it." "Good. That is very good and less to worry about." Isabelle's head snapped to look at Kate, "Did you feel that?" Kate nodded her yes. "Ingram & Keldan are close. They will be able to help with the wolves and druids." Isabelle continued, "Now we don't have much time before they come for us and I need to tell you what will happen in the meeting."

"It is important that everyone remain calm no matter what filth spews out of their mouths. Believe me they need to discredit all of us for their plan to work, do not fall into their trap. First the charges will be read and then they will ask about the investigation. When it becomes clear that we are not going to find the Cullen's guilty is when I expect the triggers to be said. The trigger for all of you on this matter is the same, it is awaken. It has to be spoken aloud so when you hear it, the attack is 30-60 seconds from happening depending on how quickly they react. Be prepared for it. We will all wear weapons into the council chamber but they will not be visible to anyone. The spell is set up so that they become visible when your hand wraps around the hilt. You will be able to feel the weight of them and know they are there. Once they strike the Cullen's go after the wolves and druids, as will Heidi, Ruth and Jillian. The rest of us will go after the Lycans first since we know which ones are a part of Nikolas's group. After they are gone we will help with the others. However, if you are attacked by any of them defend yourself, regardless of the clan they belong to. I can not stress enough, you must be fast and mercy is not an option. We are outnumbered and the number 1 goal is to survive. No mercy and no prisoners." With that said they went to claim their weapons and wait for the summons.

As Isabelle was explaining things inside the mansion, the Executioners and the Denali's made their way west toward the Romanians. When they reached the camp Gabriel counted 60 of them. Once they had circled the camp so that none would escape he gave the order to attack. Things almost went very wrong in the beginning. The Denali's paused in their attack when they saw Gabriel, Soren and Haldor actually grow from the rage of berserkergang. They recovered quickly when Irina almost had an arm torn off and decided to ask their questions later. The only other injury came when Gabriel was fighting two vampires and Vladimir attacked from behind, he managed to sink his teeth into Gabriel's right should before he could be shaken off. Gabriel heard Isabelle whisper his name in his mind and that was all it took for him to refocus and kill Vladimir.

As they were burning the bodies Tanya approached Gabriel, "What exactly are the 3 of you?" "How much did Carlisle tell you when he asked for help?" Gabriel countered. "Just that they had been charged unfairly, the Guardians were investigating and they had to face the Council." Tanya responded. Gabriel laughed, "I see he kept it pretty vague. We are at least part berserker."

"Odin's chosen warriors?" Tanya asked in awe. Gabriel nodded as he collected more body parts. Tanya swayed her hips as she approached him, "I have never actually met one before. I bet you have a lot of stamina." As she ran her hand up his back he turned and pushed her away in a move so fast she couldn't see it. "I should warn you I am happily mated and have been for close to 3,000 years. My wife is a very jealous woman and does not take well to females touching me. If you want to keep your head attached to your body I do not suggest you try that again. My sons are also married so I don't think you should try anything with them either. Trust me you will regret it. Thorne stay here and make sure nothing is going to escape the fire then meet up with us at the lycan camp. The rest of you we head north to the lycans."

They had reached the lycan camp and were waiting for Thorne to arrive when Tanya decided to tempt fate and try again. "You know your wife would never have to know." With that statement Gabriel and his sons started laughing, "You obviously have no idea who my wife is or the connection we share. Trust me not only would she know but she probably has already sensed that you are hitting on me and you will have to answer to her for that. Trust me Tanya quit while you still have your head."

"But I still don't see how..." Tanya started speaking when she suddenly felt teeth at her neck and her arms where pinned behind her back. "Then allow me to explain exactly who I am to you." Tanya was spun around and looking into the eyes of a very pissed Keeper. "Have you ever heard of the Keeper and the Overseer?" Tanya nodded her head with her eyes wide. "I am the Keeper and that is my mate you are trying to seduce, the Overseer. This is not the time for your slutty ways Tanya and I will deal with you when this is over. I think a few days in the dungeons should teach you a lesson. Gabriel was right I did sense this and he would have told me anyway. Know this for each time you try again or touch him I will add time to your punishment. Do not push me on this I have no patience with women like you and I am not known for leniency." Isabelle said to a stunned Tanya. Isabella pushed her away and went to Gabriel, "I only have a few seconds, has your shoulder healed?" "Yes, it has. I love you and be safe." he said hugging her to him. "Be safe and I love you. Come back to me." she said right before she disappeared.

Before Tanya could speak again Thorne sifted in causing her to jump saying, "The vampires are done. Ingram and Keldan are close too." When they arrived Gabriel said, "Remember the lycans will be harder to kill so use your weapons instead of hand to hand combat. The wolves should be easy, even though it is a full moon cycle it is not nighttime. Once again - no mercy." With those instructions they fanned out to enclose the lycan camp and attacked. The berserkers went immediately for the lycans as they would be more evenly matched against them than the vampires. The wolves were easily disposed of but not without some injuries. Kate Denali had received a bite on her thigh but due to the blood and spell Kate Hamilton had done it would take her a couple of hours to recover but she would live. The lycans were harder to kill and the Hamilton's were fighting them 2 at a time. Gabriel had just beheaded Peter, the lycan second in command, when he saw Haldor take a claw swipe to the chest and the cuts were deep. One of them had touched his heart; he needed medical attention that couldn't be provided in the field. Soren stepped in and dismembered the lycan while he was still alive, death would not be easy for him they would leave him to bleed out before burning him. Gabriel called, "Thorne quickly sift Haldor directly to the medical suites at the castle so he can be treated and return immediately." Thorne quickly did as he was told and was back in less than a minute.

The bonfire had been built and they were collecting the bodies when Gabriel suddenly stopped and appeared to be listening to something. "The meeting has started and the druids are on their way to the mansion. Your brothers have landed and we will meet up with them at the mansion. We will be fighting our way in while your mother and the others fight their way out. Let's move out, we head east." With that order they took off running east and hopefully to the final battle.

Back in the Guardian suite of the mansion everyone had claimed their weapons and was ready to go when suddenly Isabelle stood up saying, "that bitch has no idea who she is messing with." She turned to the girls and said, "I will be right back do not leave without me." and then she disappeared. The Cullen's looked confused. "Where did she just go?" Kate answered, "She sifted, I am guessing to wherever Gabriel is. I think one of the Denali women has overstepped her bounds." Carlisle frowned, "Tanya." he said like a curse. Kate laughed, "That would be my guess but for Isabelle to actually go there she must have tried more than once and been warned about the consequences. It shouldn't take her long to sort it out." the words had no sooner left her mouth and Isabelle appeared again. Turning to Catherine she said, "Tanya Denali will be accompanying us back to the castle and spending a few days in the dungeon. I would like you to personally oversee her stay there and it shouldn't be pleasant. She needs to learn a lesson, fucking succubus."

There was a knock on the door before it swung open "They are ready for you" said the lycan. "Here we go" Isabelle said as she led the procession out to the Council Chamber. The Chamber was full. The Council was on the dais with their guards behind them and standing around the other walls 4 people deep were the lesser clan council members and their guards. The tension in the room was almost unbearable. Thomas spoke first calling the Cullen's forth and explaining the charges that had been brought against them. When the charges were read there was a gasp that brought silence to the room. Everyone knew if found guilty death was the punishment and it would be carried out immediately.

Gregory called Isabelle forward to explain the findings of the investigation. "We have investigated the Cullen's thoroughly, from their human time to the present day. We have looked into them individually and as a coven. With the evidence we have collected I can say without a doubt that the Cullen's are innocent and we have proof that they were specifically framed for this crime." As she finished speaking in the stillness of the room "awaken" was whispered as Thomas stood to speak again Isabelle switched her cuff from her right wrist to her left and the stone was black. "Why am I not surprised that you found them innocent? Should we tell everyone about the relationship you had with them as a human or more to the point with Edward? Or maybe we should just ask Emmett if he committed these crimes? So did you Emmett?"

"No, some of the places I have not even been to. It was not me" Emmett answered in a strong voice.

As Thomas stood to speak again Isabelle said, "Perhaps we should tell them the story of how you, Thomas, tried to frame the Cullen's in your plot to take over the Council and release the Brude's. Let's talk about that."

"Attack!!" Thomas yelled and then all hell broke loose. The druids and lycans were surprised to hear the attack order; the Hamilton's & Cullen's were not. Isabelle immediately unsheathed her sword and beheaded Thomas and Nikolas. Jasper & Emmett took care of most of the druids in the room, the Volturi took care of the Romanians, the Guardians had the lycans and the rest of the Cullen's moved to the hallway to prevent more creatures from coming in through the secret passages.

Once the Druids in the passages realized what was happening in the mansion they turned to retreat out of the tunnels and ran right into the Denali's and Executioners. The creatures left to eliminate were trapped and they knew it. As soon as Kate & Mary stepped from the tunnel into the field they yelled "Brudes! Four of them." Isabelle spotted them at the same time the males realized Brude women were not extinct - the last 2 were actually Hamilton's.

"Thorne" Isabelle called, "the sword. Protect Kate & Mary, take them home." Thorne sifted and drew the Sword of Light at the same time. He appeared in front of Kate & Mary as they were about to be grabbed and swinging the sword cut down the 2 Brudes, grabbed onto the girls and sifted to the dance by Hamilton Castle.

Leif & Ingram seeing their mates made vulnerable by one of only 2 things that could easily kill them broke ranks to protect them. The 2 remaining Brudes decide to retreat to the underworld upon seeing the Sword of Light. They needed to regroup and they needed a bargaining chip. Not caring who they were taking they said the spell to open a port to the underworld, grabbed the Executioner nearest to them and vanished with the remaining druids and hybrids.

As soon as the port closed Isabelle fell to her knees screaming with pain "Gabriel!"

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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	30. Getting Gabriel

Gabriel felt the Brudes behind him as he fought 2 lycans. He felt the change in their manner and lust as soon as they realized Brude women were not gone and he felt the vibration when Thorne unleashed the power of the Sword of Light. He cut down the lycans and saw Leif & Ingram move out of the corner of his eye. The next thing he felt were strong arms around him and he was being sucked underground. What the hell is happening he thought as he heard Isabelle scream his name in his mind? That is when his torment began.

He was stripped and chained to a wall. He forced himself to go deeper into berserkergang than he ever had been and was still unable to free himself. He tried deep listening to the Brudes but was unable to penetrate their defenses. At this point he knew he had to calm himself and watch and wait for an opportunity to escape. He looked around and saw Brudes, druids, lycans and demons, he realized he was in the underworld and it was not a good place for him to be.

The questioning began. Who was he? How had the Hamilton's hid Brude women? Were there any more? How had they found out about the plan? What exactly were he and the rest of the Hamilton's? Who was his mate? They tried to take the information from his mind but this was not the first time someone had tried and he was able to fight off the attack.

Gabriel had no idea how long he had been here when suddenly he picked up a vampire scent and heard, "He is the Overseer. You have managed to capture the Keeper's mate and I am sure she is pissed." He could not believe who was standing before him, "Caius! I always knew you would turn on Aro but I never thought you stoop so low as to associate with wolves and demons."

"Yes, well we do what we must." Caius replied. Walking behind Gabriel with the cat o' nine in his hand he said, "I am sick of Aro's rules and hobbies." As Caius shook out the cat and each sentence was punctuated with sound of it landing on Gabriel's back. "Tired of him putting up with Carlisle." Whack! "Tired of reigning in the southern armies." Whack! "Tired of staying hidden from the humans." Whack! "Tired of the Guardians butting in." Whack! "Tired of Aro keeping everything to himself." Whack! "We should rule the humans not hide." Whack! "But mostly, right now, I am tired of your skin healing so quickly!" Whack! Whack! "She will come for you and when she does the Brude's can have the 2 females and you will watch me kill her. When she is dead we can continue with our plan and rule." Whack! Turning to one of the demons he said, "Continue the lashes until his skin doesn't heal and then administer another 25, even if he passes out."

Isabelle was above ground in agony. How had they taken him she thought? More importantly where had they taken him? When she stood and turned around her family, the Cullen's and the Denali's were looking at her shocked that this had happened. "Boys, search the field and the mansion, find me live druids, wolves and any lycan or vampire in on this plot. I need to interrogate them and find out where in the underworld they have taken him. A mated pair would work best." As she turned to speak to Carlisle she grimaced in pain and held her side, "Bastards. They have chained him so they can beat him. Pussies." "What?" her sons yelled as Isabelle arched her back in pain. "They have him chained and unless I am mistaken he is being whipped with a cat o' nine now." she spoke through clenched teeth. "Ruth, mix me a potion that will dull the pain without dulling my mind. He will attempt to shut off the bond and that I will not allow."

"Carlisle, if you and the Denali's could start a fire and take care of the bodies I would appreciate it? I need to go the mansion and ready the holding cell in the suite for interrogation. Thorne, take the other girls and sift back to the castle. Ready the dance, rings and the clan for our arrival. Once I am done here I will sift with the rest to the castle. It is important everything is as ready as possible when I arrive. I do not know how long your father has and I refuse to lose him." Everyone nodded and went off to carry out her orders as she made her way into the mansion.

When they had about half of the bodies collected Carlisle saw Soren and Leif escorting a female druid and a female lycan across the field. "Soren, what are they for?" Carlisle asked. "They are to be interrogated by the Keeper." Soren answered. "I feel I should warn you. She needs information and quickly, the person doing this will not be Isabelle it will be the Keeper. It is a frame of mind she rarely goes to but her mate has been taken and she is living through hell with him. He is trying to close the link and she is fighting him. This will be an Isabelle that you have never seen and we have only witnessed once." Carlisle had no idea what to say or if he even wanted his family to witness it.

Isabelle's voice suddenly pierced the air, "I SAID OPEN TO ME. YOU CAN NOT HIDE, OPEN NOW." Everyone took off for the mansion. Upon entering the Guardians suite they saw the wall by fireplace was gone and in its place was what looked to be a torture chamber. There was a prison cell currently holding 4 people, a chair in the middle of the room with bindings and a lot of different instruments on the wall. No one had any idea what to say. Isabelle was sitting behind her desk with her eyes closed and her hands like steeples against her forehead. Her lips were moving but no one could make out what she was saying. Carlisle looked to Soren with a raised eyebrow wanting to know what was happening. "She is comforting him. She forced her way in and opened the link fully and is now trying to give him something else to focus on instead of the pain." Soren answered.

Isabelle opened her eyes and stood, "He has passed out and still they continue the lashing." she said in a pained voice. When she looked at the group gathered in front of her is when they noticed her eyes had turned an ice blue. "None of you have to stay to see this. If at any point it becomes too much just leave the room, do not offer comfort or guidance. It is not needed or wanted." With that said she opened the cell pulled out the female lycan and strapped the screaming woman into the chair. Allowing her fangs to drop Isabelle backhanded the woman, grabbed her hair and forced her to head up. "You need to understand that I am going to kill you. My mate was taken and that is a crime that calls for death. If you tell me what I want to know I will make it easy and if not I will make it hard but either way I will find out what you know. All four of you need to listen; I want the answer to one question. Where is he being held in the underworld?"

The lycan started screaming she didn't know anything and Isabelle slowly dragged her fangs up the woman's arm causing shallow cuts and releasing venom. Venom that would kill her slowly. "I don't know anything, I swear!" she screamed again. Isabelle did the same thing to her other arm. Again she swore she didn't know anything and Isabelle had had enough. "How about I just take the information I want" and she bit into her neck. The girl knew where some of the prisoner cells where in the underworld but not if Gabriel would be held there. Isabelle went to a map marked the place, went back to the girl and loosened the bindings. When the girl stood Isabelle grabbed her from behind and snapped her head off saying to Michael "Get rid of the body."

As she pulled a male wolf out of the cell the Denali's left the room. He knew even less than the lycan and died quicker. As she grabbed the male druid and was walking him over to the wall to chain him, all the Cullen's left the room except Edward. She went over to the table and picked up a whip. The fact that it was a cat o' nine tails was not lost on anyone. She was deep listening to him as she was whipping him. The female druid left in the cell was more involved and knew more than he did. With that knowledge she gave him another 5 lashes and then snapped his neck. Leaving him hanging on the wall she pulled the female out of the cell and bound her in the chair.

Isabelle pulled a chair up in front of the druid, I know you have the information I want. That you know where the Brude's are and where they will keep him. The male was not very good at hiding his thoughts. If you tell me I will kill you quickly, if not I will take what I want from you." The female spit in her face. "So be it then." Isabelle leaned forward and grabbed the female by her hair forcing her head forward until their foreheads met. Isabelle closed her eyes and just listened. The female was fighting the intrusion to her mind and her body was shaking with the effort. They had been like that for 5 minutes when Isabelle whispered, "Ah. There is the information I want." When she opened her eyes blood started to trickle from the druid's nose, mouth and ears and when Isabelle released her hold the female slumped forward - she was dead.

Isabelle stood facing her family and Edward, "We will take the jet back instead of sifting. I need to put a plan in place and time to think. The flight will give me that. Michael, call and tell the pilot. We will go on foot to the airport. Get the Cullen's and Tanya, we need to go now."

Once the plane was in the air Isabelle, her sons and Ruth went to the front of the plane to discuss the plan for when they arrived at the castle. The Cullen's and Tanya were in the back of the plane discussing what had just happened at the mansion. Edward explained what happened after the others had left and their minds were just blank. Alice explained about the conversation she and Gabriel had on the way to Reno. "As much as it pains me to say this, he was right. After seeing just the small amount I did today there is no way we or even just Edward could have lived with that for 3,000 years. I understand she was getting information about her mate but how close was that to what they were doing when we were at the castle. Even if it only happens once every 25 or 50 years could we live with ourselves if that is what we had to do? I don't think so."

"She has her link fully open" Jasper interrupted, "so it is easy to read her emotions. There was a lot of rage and determination. The part of her that is concentrating on Gabriel is filled with love and comfort but never was there remorse for what she was doing. She wasn't enjoying it but she didn't feel sorry about it either. Her actions and feelings were not new to her, so she has definitely done this before. I agree with Alice, I don't think this is something we could do for any length of time, especially if someone hadn't wronged us personally."

Everyone turned and looked at Edward to see how he felt about things. Not looking at anyone Edward started to speak. "I have mixed feelings about everything. She has not changed in my eyes because of the things she has done. I love her and if anything I love her even more because of the things she has done to protect our world and the humans. I will always love her but I also realize this is not something I could have done with her. She is strong, so very strong, emotionally, mentally and physically, much stronger than I am. I know myself well enough to know I would not have been able to live this life for long, even with her. It is very hard to let her go, I can't let her go totally that would kill me but I can recognize that Gabriel is the better match for her and the life she was destined to have. If I can't have her as my mate then I need her in my life as my friend and I will do whatever it takes to make sure she is happy with Gabriel. I do not want to discuss this anymore." The Cullen's watched sadly as he walked to the galley to be alone.

What Edward didn't tell them was that from some reason with Isabelle's link open he could hear her thoughts this time and the things she said to Gabriel to comfort him. While some of them tore him to pieces, like when she thought of the times they had been intimate, it helped him to realize how much they depended on each other. In the history of the world he was sure no two people had ever been more closely intertwined and dependent on each other. It was seeing those times that they comforted each other after a battle, watching her draw strength from Gabriel just so she could live with the things she had done that he developed a true respect for the man who was her husband. He thought about the fact that Gabriel chose this life, it was an informed decision and was in awe of the depth of love he must have for her. As the plane was descending to land at Wick is when he made the decision to make sure Gabriel came back to her alive. He knew he would never find another true mate so he would do this one last thing for her before he stepped into the role of friend and tried to move on with his life. He knew she needed Gabriel to live and he needed her to be as happy as possible before he attempted to make a life for himself.

As the plane was approaching the hangar Isabelle gasped, "He is awake and in pain. I love you cèile and I am coming for you." She turned to Soren, "Call the castle I need the entire clan assembled. The solstice begins the day after tomorrow and we need to be ready. I will be retrieving Gabriel at sunrise. With this fight I want to end the Brude's and hopefully we can live in peace for awhile."

The helicopters landed near the training fields at dusk, a very subdued Isabelle led the group up the hill. When she reached the crest she was in awe, every member of the clan was gathered holding a candle. When she was spotted they put one hand over their heart and went down on one knee, pledging their loyalty to her. "Thank you. I can not express how much this means to me and Gabriel. This right here, this show of loyalty and strength is why the Hamilton Clan was chosen to carry out this duty. I have faith in all of you and now let me explain what needs to be done to get your Laird back." She spent the next three hours explaining exactly what they would be doing to finish what the Brude's started.

When Gabriel was conscious he could hear Isabelle talking to him in his mind. He knew she was coming for him if he could hold on long enough. Neither the Brude's nor Caius knew much about Isabelle or the Guardians. This is why they protected their secrets so strictly. He would not talk and without more information they would not attack. The balms and potions that Ruth was applying to Isabelle also helped Gabriel deal with the pain and heal. He knew they couldn't figure why they couldn't break him so they doubled their efforts. 24 more hours he thought, I can do this and then he passed out again.

At midnight on the solstice the hay bales were lit at the dance and the rings to show respect and cleanse the area. At 4:00 am parents starting arriving at the castle with their children under 16. Thorne & Thunder would look after all the children in the keep. Should things go wrong they could sift all the children to safety quickly. At 5:00 am the clansmen started arriving at the dance and the rings with their weapons. The men circled the outer part of the ring looking out, protecting the women within. The women formed circles inside the men looking into the ring. They were the ones Isabelle would pull energy and strength from to complete the spell. They were to focus on protecting the women and the women were to focus and projecting the love and fierceness they felt in protecting their family. At 5:45 am the Hamilton's and Cullen's made their way to the ring at the waterfall. The one that had always been special and just for Isabelle and Gabriel. Once again the men circled the perimeter and the women formed circles inside with Isabelle standing alone in the heart of the circle. The sky was starting to lighten when she said, "I want to thank each and every one of you and tell you it has been an honor to stand beside you on this journey. Your love and faith in me give me strength, know that I love you all also. Go with God. Be safe." She had warned them all about what could come out of the underworld with Gabriel and they had chosen to stand with her anyway.

At 6:15 am as the sun started to peak over the mountaintop she unsheathed the Sword of Light. "He is conscious again." Piercing the ground in front of her with the Sword she said the spell, "_What was taken, will be returned. For the takers, a lesson to learn. With faith and strength and love I call, break through the underworld's wall. As I force open the mouth of hell, lay in front of me, my mate, Gabriel." _As she removed the Sword from the ground Gabriel appeared at her feet. He was beaten and bloody and bruised. He had broken bones and open whip marks all over his body. Most importantly he was alive.

As Isabelle kneeled down next to him, the ground started to shake and fissures opened up outside the rings. She took a protective stance over Gabriel and warned the others, "Prepare yourselves, here come the hounds of hell."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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	31. Saying Goodbye

Gabriel was still unconscious as Ruth put the healing balm on his wounds. She knew he would heal fine with time but he would have a few deep scars, although he always seemed to view his scars as a badge of honor. They proved to the world he could protect his mate.

Isabelle moved to the outer part of the circle and watched as druids, hybrids, wolves and demons crawled up out of the fissures that had been opened. Wielding the Sword of Light above her head she gave the order "Attack!" and made the Sword sing with power. The clansmen attacked from within their protective circles using their crossbows to cut down what was coming for them and the snipers were firing from the castle roofs. The Hamilton's and Cullen's had stepped outside the ring to fight the creatures while Kate and Mary worked to close the fissures that had opened. They needed to seal off the underworld again and slow the flow of creatures coming out.

The Clan was holding their own in the fight and there were only the 3 largest fissures left to close when they felt it - the Brude's had come to the surface. Kate and Mary each made a run for the nearest protective ring and immediately started reinforcing the magic around them. Three Brude's surrounded Isabelle while the other 7 moved to stand on the outside of the circle Kate was in and began breaking down the walls of magic protecting her. They wanted to Brude females, desperately. The Guardians ran to protect Mary knowing they could not get to Kate to help her now. With their protection Mary stepped out of the circle to close the opening closest to her and then made the run to another circle. The Executioners ran to surround the Brude's surrounding Isabelle. Only she could kill them with the Sword of Light but they could give her a fighting chance by distracting 2 of the 3.

Fifteen minutes later as Isabelle split the third Brude from the top of his head to his groin she noticed the protection around Kate had fallen. The Brude's left the hybrid's to fight through the clansmen to get to her while they moved to the circle Mary was now in to bring down its protection. Isabelle sent half the Executioners to protect Kate and with the other half moved to close the final opening.

After closing the final fissure Isabelle looked around, Emmett & Rosalie were protecting Gabriel who was just starting to come around. The Guardians were inside the circle with Mary trying to hold the protection against the remaining 7 Brude's. The Cullen's and Executioners were fighting their way through hybrids to get to Kate first. Isabelle sifted right behind the Brude's and cut down 3 with the Sword before the others just disappeared. WTF?? Isabelle thought looking around to see most of the battle was over. "Kate, move over into Mary's ring." Isabelle said. "Do you still feel them above ground?" Before they could answer she felt the air move around her. She was swinging the Sword before they fully materialized and was able to kill two before the third made a grab for the Sword.

As they struggled she could feel love and strength flowing into her and knew it was coming from Gabriel. She glanced over to see him standing and Rose & Emmett fighting the last Brude. The Cullen's were rushing over to help them when it happened - Rose lost an arm, Emmett a leg and the Brude went to grab Gabriel. Isabelle regained control of the Sword and sliced the Brude she was fighting when he ripped it out of her hands and before he died threw it at his last remaining brother, the one holding the Overseer.

Edward was fighting the hybrids while keeping an eye on Isabelle. He had to keep her safe, he needed her to survive this. He heard the alarm in Emmett's mind and was running to them before they cried out. As if in slow motion he saw the Brude rip the Sword from Isabelle and throw it to the one holding Gabriel. He read the Brude's thoughts and knew if that happened it would kill Isabelle and he couldn't let that happen. He reached Gabriel and pushed him away just as the Sword was dropping and heard Isabelle yell "Gabriel" at the same time Alice yelled "Edward, NO!" Then he felt it, the Sword was slicing through him. He felt the Brude's hold on the Sword lessen so he took the chance and ripped it out of his body and drove it back into the Brude's heart. He had done it, the last Brude was dead and then Edward fell to the ground - dying.

Carlisle dropped to the ground next to him, not knowing what to do to help heal him. "Isabelle, what do we do?" he cried out. Isabelle kneeled next to Edward running her fingers through his hair as he looked at her. "There is nothing we can do Carlisle. The Sword of Light is the only thing that can maim or kill even an immortal being. There is nothing to do but make him comfortable and say goodbye. "Why would you do that Edward?"

"Because I love you and I need for you to be happy. If I can't live with you forever as my mate then I would rather die knowing I ensured your happiness. You were right, Gabriel is a good man and I came to realize he is what you need. Maybe, just maybe with this act I have done enough good and if I have a soul it can pass into heaven and then I can watch over you forever but without the guilt of my past actions."

"I always told you, I have seen your soul and it is a wondrous thing Edward. Go in peace Edward and know that I will always feel safer knowing that you are watching me and my family. Find your happiness on the other side and be assured that I will always hold you close to my heart, by saving Gabriel you saved me." She leaned down and kissed his forehead, "Know you are loved and will never be forgotten."

Edward looked at each member of his family, "Do not be sad. If we are being honest we all know this is for the best." He knew the poison from the Sword had almost completed its task of killing him, so he turned to the love of his life and cupping her cheek said "I love you Bella, more than my own life." Then he died.

The Cullen's kneeled around him dry sobbing while the Executioners and Guardians were hunting down the few enemies that thought they could escape in the confusion. Isabelle was sitting on the ground next to Gabriel watching him heal. So very happy that he was alive and would heal fine but sadden that Edward was gone, she had hoped they could have remained in contact somehow.

Hours passed as the Cullen's remained next to Edward's body. The bonfire was lit and the enemy bodies were burning. By the time it was over all the Brude's, hybrids and druids were dead and most of the wolves were gone too. The Hamilton's were not without losses and injuries. They had lost about 15 clansmen and Tanya had been killed also. Soren had been severely injured and even with his fast healing to would still be months before he was 100%. Others had been injured but they would heal within a few days time at the most. Carlisle had reattached Rose & Emmett's limbs and they would also be healed completely in a few days. Perhaps the hardest injury was to Heidi, she had been bitten by a vampire hybrid and was now in the process of transforming. They would have to wait the three days to see how much if any of her Wiccan qualities and abilities she would retain and how she would adjust to being a vampire now, time would tell.

Isabelle approached the Cullen's slowly, "Carlisle, we need to move Edward now. Due to the way he was killed he will not need to be burned." At this all of their heads popped up. "It would be an honor to bury him on Hamilton land near the waterfall; it has always been very special to myself and Gabriel. Of course you would all be welcome to visit anytime."

Carlisle nodded his head, "I think he would like that. Thank you." At sunset  
Edward was laid to rest with his weapons in a coffin Gabriel built himself, with a ceremony fitting one of Odin's Warriors looking for entrance into Valhalla. The entire clan attended to pay tribute to a fallen warrior.

The Executioners and Guardians were sent out to search the world for any druids or hybrids that were missed in the battle. Not many were found but the ones they did were summarily executed. They Lycans asked for and were granted permission to deal with any wolves left on their own with the condition that if one more problem came from them it would not just be the wolves that were executed. The Sword of Light was returned to the Fae, hopefully forever. Gabriel went to the Volturi personally to tell Aro of Caius's treachery. Once Gabriel told his story it made sense to Aro why Caius was missing, he was on the run. Aro wanted to deal him and Gabriel said fine knowing in the end Caius would wish it was the Overseer dealing out the death sentence. Eventually the human world went back to its sleepy self where vampires, lycans and such only existed in books.

The Cullen's stayed on for a week while everyone healed. It was hard of them being so close to where Edward was killed. As they were leaving Isabelle hugged them all, "I do hope when things have settled that you will come and visit. It would be nice to just visit with you all without danger hanging over anyone's head. I think you would see more of the Bella you knew at that time."

Gabriel walked up to the group putting his arms around his wife, "We would also like to ask your opinion on something. Isabelle is pregnant again and we would like to name him Edward, if that wouldn't offend any of you?"

Cries of surprise and joy went up with all of them exclaiming, "That would be great." Carlisle hugged Isabelle, "I can't think of anything that would please us more. We will definitely have to come back now. What age would be good?"

Gabriel laughed, "The pregnancy will be the normal 9 months and then he will age normally until about 10, that is when his physically aging slows severely and at this point we do not know what bloodlines he will draw from either. I would say anytime after he reaches 5 would be good if you want to teach him about his namesake."

"Great" Carlisle said as the Cullen's claimed into the cars to leave, "We will let you know. Please keep in touch Isabelle." With that they waved goodbye and started driving off.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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	32. Epilogue

Epilogue

_7 years later_

St. Petersburg, Russia

Tomorrow is the solstice Alice thought. It has been 7 years since Edward died and we last saw Isabelle. It had taken some time for everyone to come to terms with his death and the fact that he gave his life so Isabelle could be happy. He loved her so much and in the end he did what he had always done, protected her and made sure she was kept safe. If he had lived and been forced to see her with Gabriel for the rest of eternity it would have slowly driven him insane. No, this was definitely for the best.

After the battle when they all traveled back to Leeds the Cullen's decided that each couple would go their own way for a few years to deal with what had happened and the loss they had suffered. It was just 2 years ago that they all found themselves in Russia and decided to live together again. Now they were traveling to Scotland to see the Hamilton's and to visit Edward's grave. It would be a hard visit.

When they arrived at the castle they were surprised at the differences they noticed before they even stepped out of the car. Everyone and everything seemed so much lighter than the last time they were here. Soren and Ruth were standing in front of the castle waiting to greet them. As Carlisle exited the car he said to Soren "It is nice to see you both again and thank you for allowing us to come."

"Nonsense Carlisle, we told you at the time you would always be welcome here and we meant that. I am sure quite a bit has changed since you were last here, feel free to wander around and we will see you later and catch you up on things."

The Cullen's ran to the waterfall anxious to be as close to Edward as they could. When they saw the clearing where he was buried they stopped, his grave was covered in freesia and strawberries. Isabelle and Gabriel were sitting close to the headstone talking. "Sometimes when I come here, I can feel him." Gabriel said. "Especially if you and I are not getting along, I can feel him telling me what an ass I am being and that he didn't save me so I could make you miserable. As much as he irritated me, which was greatly because he wanted you to be his, it is still humbling in some ways to think he was a better man than I am. He gave his life for me, for you. I don't think I could be that selfless, I need you to much."

"I have told you not to beat yourself up over this. Edward could read your mind, he knew what I meant to you. Had you not been a good man he never would have saved you for me. Do not diminish his sacrifice by doubting yourself. Let's go back to the castle the Cullen's are close and wish to spend some time alone here. We will see them in the morning."

Carlisle and the others found the Hamilton's in the keep having breakfast in the morning. "Carlisle" Isabella said hugging him, "Come, sit down. Tell us all about what everyone has been doing." As Carlisle was explaining how they all found themselves in Russia he looked up over the fireplace and noticed the portrait of the current Laird and then looked at Isabelle confused. She smiled and began to explain what had been happening in their lives since the battle.

They had spent the year directly after making sure that all the druids and hybrids were dead and that the lycans had taken care of by the wolves. It had taken Aro almost a full year to catch Caius, who was still alive and being held in Volterra. Rumor had it he was insane now and was serving as a lesson to anyone else who would try to overthrow Aro. Heidi was now a full vampire but had been able to retain most of her Wiccan abilities. Her hardest adjustment stemmed from the fact the she was no longer able to have children but she thanked god that she already had 2 before her transformation. Thunder had mated with a lycan, Heather, and they were expecting their first child. Gabriel had stepped down as Laird 3 years before and now Soren was the head of the clan.

There had not been much need for the Executioners or Guardians in recent years as the clans were so busy sorting themselves out they didn't have the time to cause problems with each other. Once each clan had searched inside itself for traitors their numbers had done down considerably. Isabelle & Gabriel used this time to teach their newest son, Edward, all of the Hamilton Clan legends, he never tired of hearing them.

The human world returned to normal also. The girls that were freed in South America hadn't really seen anything so they were returned to their lives immediately. The ones that were used for the breeding program had to have parts of their memories wiped before they could be returned. They turned up in different places in the United States with only vague ideas of where they had been and what had happened. After months of therapy it was assumed their minds had blocked the experience as a protection measure.

The sun was starting to set outside when Carlisle asked, "Isabelle is Edward here? Would it be possible to see him?"

"Of course Carlisle, he should be here any moment. They have lit the bonfire and he loves the stories that are told this time of year. I think you will be surprised when you see him, he is very special. He is of the lycan and berserker bloodlines and is the first ever of berserker blood to not have blue eyes."

At that moment a 7 year old boy with ginger hair and green eyes came running in yelling, "Hurry up you guys they are starting the stories." before pulling on Isabelle's arm to get her to move.

"Calm down Eddie and say hello to our guests, the Cullen's." His eyes went wide as he said in awe, "The Cullen's. They have to hear the new stories." Carlisle looked at Gabriel with a confused expression. "You will understand soon. For now let's join the Clan at the bonfire."

As they walked up to the bonfire they saw Eddie sitting in his mom's lap and heard him whisper, "The next one is about me isn't it?" She nodded, "Actually it is about the person you are named after Edward Masen Hamilton, so calm down and listen."

As the Cullen's sat one of the Clan Elders stood, "now it is time for the telling of the Legend of the Warrior Edward Cullen and how his sacrifice saved us all...."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.**

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